Ginny's journey
by EmbraceYourSun
Summary: AU. Harry and Ginny never got together. Three years after the war she decides to leave home in order to find herself but instead true love finds her in most unexpected ways. First fanfic. Rated T for safety. Please Review
1. Chapter 1

I don't own anything. Everything in the wonderful world of Harry Potter belongs to the queen.

It's been already three years after the final war at Hogwarts. Three years that brought so many changes into her life. After the endless months of grief and sorrow the magical world started recovering and it took a year before the students of Hogwarts could return to finish their education.

Because she didn't really have the chance to make her sixth year properly she and many other students decided to make it again, so she just graduated school this summer and decided to attend a University far away from home.

The main reason why she wanted to go was because she was sick of home. Not that she hated to be here but she felt like she needed to go find herself. And this was a journey she had to do on her own. Well almost on her own, because Neville and Luna would also come along with her. But at least she wouldn't be surrounded by people who constantly reminded her of what she wanted to forget and a pair of emerald green eyes reminded her whenever she caught them.

Those dark thoughts kept her awake for many nights but when Ginny Weasley opened the window on a warm morning of September she felt good. The light shone in her almost empty room. Most of her posters still hung on the walls but her closet was almost empty. In the case on her bed was everything she owned and what she was going to take with her. She turned around and tried to remember if she had forgotten something. But she thought to herself immediately, that new beginnings should start without worries about things she might have forgotten.

Today was going to be her last day at the Burrow. She had always imagined the moment she'd leave with everyone shading a tear and telling her how much she'll be missed. She was a bit excited to see, if it's really going to be that emotional.

"Ginny, are you up already? ", called Molly Weasley up the stairs. Normally Ginny wouldn't be up since she was always someone to sleep until afternoon but she never felt happier to call back to her mother: "Yes mum, I'll be down in a minute."

Ginny rushed to the bathroom and changed into the cute little dress Hermione had once bought for her. She wasn't really the type of girl to wear dresses and skirts but since it would be an eventful day she decided to make her last day a remarkable day. She looked into the mirror and told herself that she was feeling pretty. Because she couldn't really convince herself she went down the stairs quickly.

When she entered the kitchen she murmured her "Good morning!" and hurried to take a seat. Ron and Hermione sat together reading the news while taking their coffee. Harry was busy looking everywhere but at her. He was acting weird. Even for him. But she said to herself she wouldn't care since it would be a great day for her today.

She considered him a friend after all that they had been through. At least she tried to be his friend. But apparently he didn't feel the same about her. It had been hard enough to give up on him after so many years she secretly fancied him but now that he wouldn't even want to be friends with her was just heart breaking... again. That were the moments she was happy to leave it all behind.

"So Ginny, today is the big day? " Hermione said after a few moments looking up from the papers.

"Oh wow, Ginny I knew that dress would look stunning on you! " She added smiling.

"Oh... thank you, Hermione" said Ginny blushing.

Mrs Weasley turned around to look at her only daughter and tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes.

"My only daughter is already moving out..." she said with a bittersweet mix of pride and grief.

"I can't believe how fast you've grown up. Look at you, you look so... so..." she didn't finish but let the tears run. Because Ginny didn't want to cry too and because she didn't know what else to do she got up and hugged her mother.

"Oh mum, it won't be that different, you know, I could always visit you"

"But it's not the same" said Ron without thinking.

"Not helpful, Ron" Ginny heard Hermione whisper. Before he could say anything else Mrs Weasley released her daughter and said to him sarcastically: "At least I'll have you forever!"

Everybody laughed at Ron while he blushed and murmured something about not seeing a point in moving out when he could live at the Burrow for free. They chatted about this and that when George entered the kitchen and announced formally: "Good morning beloved family! Hermione! Harry! Ron! " He said while nodding in their direction.

"Ha-ha!" made Ron and turned his attention back at the prophet.

"George! " Ginny squeaked and got up to hug her elder brother. "I didn't think you could leave the store today..."

"Well, the store can survive a day without me. I want to spend your last day with you" he answered smiling. "Besides, I have something to talk about with Ronald and Harry here, so excuse us for a minute."

"What would you have to talk about with them? " asked Ginny but George ignored her and pointed first at Ron and Harry and then at the stairs.

The two moved immediately and went up the stairs with George leaving a confused Ginny in the kitchen. Ginny turned to ask Hermione what that was all about but she got up and before anyone could make a sound she said: "Well that was weird... Anyway, Ginny, have you already packed all your stuff?"

"Well, not really, there are still a few things I have to take care of" she said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Hermione and both girls went into Ginny's room.

While going through her things once again and Hermione trying to figure out what she could need and what not, Ginny wondered why Harry wouldn't look at her. Neither did he take part in their earlier conversations, so she asked Hermione:

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?" She didn't look up from the books she's been sorting.

"I was wondering if... Do you know if there's something bothering Harry?"

She stopped for a moment but didn't look up. Nobody said anything for a few moments.

"Well... I... I don't know.", she said. Ginny didn't believe her because she was avoiding her eyes. But because Hermione didn't want to talk about it Ginny left it that way. And besides, Harry wasn't her problem, was it?

"He seemed... I don't know... unhappy..."

"Oh yeah? Well he doesn't really share his feelings with me...", Hermione said. "Are you sure you don't want to take this with you?" She pointed at a random book and Ginny shook her head no. Though she felt like Hermione is hiding something she decided it was best to leave it with that. Anyway the girls wouldn't be able to talk about it since somebody opened the door without knocking.

"Knock. Knock.", said Neville and looked into the room. "We arrived earlier, because Granny wanted to hex me so I couldn't leave the house anymore."

"Neville, if you'll keep on entering rooms without knocking, we won't live in peace for long!" said Ginny while she hugged him. "What do you mean your grandma wanted to hex you?"

"She just wouldn't let go of me if I'd stay another minute. I picked Luna up.", he said and pointed at the blonde girl who entered the room after him. Ginny hugged her.

"Hello Ginny. It's nice to see you Hermione.", she said and with a quick movement of her wand her case flew through the door and landed right next to her. "Where is everybody else?"

"Well Ron and Harry are on a secret meeting with George.", said Ginny and rolled her eyes.

"Oh really? That's nice", said Luna and turned around to hug Hermione. "You know what this is all about, don't you?"

Luna already went back to the window without waiting for an answer but Ginny saw Hermione blushing. Something was up but since they seem to keep her out of this she didn't ask. It hurt though. She felt her eyes starting to prickle so she blinked the forming tears away and swallowed hard.

"Well I think we should go outside on such a lovely day", said Luna and looked right into Ginny's eyes. It was like sometimes she knew what Ginny needed even if she herself didn't.

"I agree", said Neville and left the room with Hermione. Just in that moment Luna said: "I know that you feel like an outcast with Hermione Ron and Harry. But maybe you are more of a subject between them than you know."

"What do you mean?", asked Ginny but Luna was already humming a melody-less song and followed Hermione and Neville outside.

When the girls stepped into the sun they found Neville and Hermione waiting for them to come and join them.

"Hermione and I thought about going to Diagon Alley tonight. How about grabbing a few drinks and having a bit of fun before we leave tomorrow morning?"

"Oh well what a lovely idea", said Luna and Ginny simply nodded.

"So it's settled then!", said Neville and clapped his hands once as to make it official. "Oh, hey Harry! Ron! We're going to Diagon Alley tonight, you're coming right?"

Ginny turned around to see them both coming outside abruptly stopping their conversation.

"Oh, hi Neville. Luna!", said Harry. It was the first sentence Ginny heard him saying today. "Sure, I think George would love to come, too."

"Yes I'm going to show you some new hot spots there. Must have been ages since you lot have been there.", said George.

"Oh hell no!", cried Ron out. "There's no bloody way you're taking me again to that nasty little spo-"

"Well Ronald that was a very different story.", said George quickly and changed the subject.

Ginny stopped listening. She was searching for Harry who didn't take part in the conversation. He sat under a tree and watched the group talking about the evening. Ginny joined him and took all her courage.

"Harry?", she started quietly. His head snapped automatically in her direction. "Are you well?"

"Yeah... Sure! Why do you ask?"

"I... I don't know... It's just... You seem sad... Somehow"

"Yeah?", he asked letting his eyes wander away from her. He sounded bored and that just made Ginny realize how little interested he was in being friends with her.

"If you don't want to talk about it with me, that's fine.", said Ginny suddenly angry. She was sick and tired of being left out. She studied her hands because she didn't want to show how hurt she really was. She really tried hard to be his friend but he seemed to like his role as the lonely outcast and it simply drove her crazy.

"What I wanted to say is, you don't have to fight every battle on your own, you know."

"It's not... Ginny, don't get me wrong!", he said and searched for her eyes. He looked hurt. " I just... I feel like I've lost a great opportunity..."

"You mean going to University?", Ginny asked. It was superficially and she knew that he meant something else but she didn't want to make him talk about it. He should be willing to tell her. "You can still attend. I mean there are exceptions and-"

"No! No... That's not what I meant", he said and looked her deep in the eyes. Ginny felt her heart pounding and warned herself. Stupid brat, don't even think about this!

Harry swallowed and made a noise as if he was about to say something. But he closed his mouth again and Ginny waited for him to plug up the courage to speak again.

"Harry! Ginny! You coming?", called Ron. Harry looked away and blushed. Why on earth was he blushing? She just realized that his hand has been inches away from hers. Maybe, she thought, he was embarrassed because I've been too urgent. She couldn't think of another reason. She wouldn't allow herself.

It's not like she didn't imagine being Harry's girlfriend when they have been younger. But she had learnt early that she'll always be _Ron's little sister_ or _the girl that has a crush on Harry Potter_. She was embarrassed when she thought about how many times he was confronted with her stupid affection for him. But he always ignored it friendly. It was really nice of him and it didn't make it easier to forget him.

Because her thoughts made her blush even after all this years, Ginny started to chat about this and that to loosen up the atmosphere while both joined the group again.

"So I was wondering how is the auror training going?" asked Ginny.

"It's hard, really! I never thought it'll be that hard after all. It's like I never knew anything"

"I don't believe you!"

"Believe it! I have to admit I thought it'll be easy too but being Harry Potter doesn't help much"

"Oh don't you act as if you don't like it that way!" Ginny laughed and punched his arm. Harry smirked and pulled her hair. The action surprised her and she stumbled but he caught her.

"It's a secret!" he whispered in her ear. Her heart made a little jump and she felt the blood rushing in her cheeks but he let go immediately and went a few steps ahead.

What the hell was that about? Ginny stopped and watched Harry walking towards the others.

"Oh Harry… Why are you making it so hard for me to let go?" she asked herself before joining them, too.

The day went by very quickly and it seemed like Ginny just blinked once and suddenly it was becoming evening. Mr Weasley came back earlier from work and even Percy left work to spend a few hours with his little sister. Charlie was busy and Bill was visiting Fleur's parents in France. Ginny convinced herself that she wasn't too sad about it but it didn't really work. Mrs Weasley had cooked everything Ginny loved to eat and spent most time switching between complaining about her daughter leaving and reminding Luna and Neville to take good care of her.

It was a lovely dinner and after receiving traditionally a basket with bread and salt she finally allowed herself to tell everyone how much she'd miss them all. She met eyes with Harry and he toasted to her with his drink while she wiped the tears away quickly and smiled. Something told her that now after she finally made a big step towards him they could finally become friends.

Mr Weasley cleared his throat and stood up. "Ginny, my dear" he began, "I'm not into big words but I feel like telling you this right now: I'm so proud of you. I mean look at you. You've become a young woman and I'm sure you'll be doing great out there in the world."

Ginny hugged him and thanked him quietly. Though Mr Weasley would never admit it, Ginny knew that he didn't think very highly of her decision to go away. So hearing him talking like that meant a lot to her. She'd always imagined him talking about how he'll miss her and stuff but she never imagined him being proud at her although she would be leaving.

Even Ron dragged himself to say a few words to her about how boring it'll be when she'll be gone and who he could tease but he spoke through his heart and the way Hermione looked at him in awe Ginny knew that nobody had forced him to say anything. Nobody knew what to say so the kitchen went silent for a few moments.

"I guess it's getting late" George suddenly announced and looked meaningfully into the round. That was when the emotionally part of the evening stopped and they went upstairs to grab their things.

The girls went into Ginny's room and before Ginny could enter her room Percy grabbed her and dragged her into his room. Ginny was never in Percy's room since he moved out years ago and she just went there to play pranks on him anyway. It looked deserted. Only his desk, his bed and his closet were left. The walls had lighter spots where once his awards hung. Ginny thought about her room for a minute. It was still bright and full of things but soon there'll be another empty room.

"Ginny" began Percy. "I just wanted to give you this."

He handed her a little box and waited for her to open it. It was a little bracelet with a little heart.

"Oh wow, thank you Percy" she said and hugged him. But since Percy has never been the sentimental type he already banished her out of his room saying he needed to write a few letters. Ginny went back to her room where Luna and Hermione had been waiting for her and the girls went down the stairs to meet with the boys.

They disapparated and landed in the crowded street of Diagon Alley.

"Well friends" George announced "We'll head to the "Foaming Vial" it's a new bar"

Nobody ever heard of this bar but since George seemed to be determined to go there, everybody joined.

The "Foaming Vial" was a loud and crowded place. It seemed like everybody their age went there to see and be seen. George held the door open for everybody and went straight to the counter and exchanged a few words with the bartender. He showed in their direction and the bartender scanned them quickly, walked around the counter and made them follow him.

The group was lead to a quieter place in the back of the location where a table waited for them. It had something of a lounge and Ginny seated herself next to Luna and Harry on the bench. She looked around and it seemed to be a nice place to be. The lights were low so they'd have a little privacy. It seemed like they were in an oriental tent with the big red curtains hanging from the unseen ceiling and the low tables and the padded benches. Everywhere were extra pillows to make one as comfortable as possible.

Acrobats were swinging themselves from the ceilings but nobody really noticed them. George placed himself on the bench across from Ginny, rubbed his hands and said: "Let the party begin!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ginny wasn't quite sure if she was enjoying herself but since she was determined to have a good time she tried to lead the conversation.

"This is nice, isn't it?"

The others were still looking around trying to figure out what to think about the location. But Ginny wouldn't give up.

"How about ordering some drinks?"

"Drinks, yes!" said George and waved the waiter over and ordered a round for all of them.

Between Butterbeers and Firewhiskeys the group started to loosen up. George and Ron started to sing the Chudley Canons' hymn and Luna started dancing a weird dance.

"Ron, please, just stop it already!" Hermione almost begged. She was looking embarrassed but since Ginny was used to her brothers behaving like that in public she wondered why Hermione wasn't.

"Does Ron behave different around Hermione?" Ginny asked Harry. He chuckled in his glass and took a sip before answering.

"Well not really different but he learnt to be… Let's say more charming"

"Oh I can't believe it. Ron can be charming?"

"Let me tell you a secret: Ron has this little book called "Twelve fail-safe ways to charm a witch" and it turned out to be very helpful" Harry laughed.

Ginny listened to him telling her the story of Ron and Hermione with wide eyes. She never knew how Ron and Hermione got together. Neither did she ask. It always seemed so wrong to know more than necessary about her brother's love life. Though Ron, on the other hand, was always very interested in hers. She only dated guys secretly but somehow Ron always seemed to find out about it. And that was almost always the reason her relationships ended shortly after that.

"What a lucky twat!" Ginny said after Harry finished his story, "Hermione is just perfect for him, don't you think?"

"Yeah" said Harry. He got lost in his thoughts for a moment and added: "If you are lucky to find someone special you should never let them go"

Ginny remained silent. She didn't know what to answer neither was she sure if they were still talking about Ron. So she just smiled and nodded in his direction. Luckily Ron distracted them by announcing that he was bored and wanted them to play a game.

"How about a little drinking game?" asked George. Nobody ever played, so George explained: "There are simple rules: Everybody tells something they had never done and if you have already done it, you have to take a sip of your drink!"

"Seriously George, how do you know about this stuff?" asked Hermione. But George didn't answer her. Instead he ordered a round of Firewhiskey for them and drummed with his hands on the table.

"I think I already had enough" said Neville, "And I think Luna had enough, too"

Everybody watched Luna spinning around laughing. She was waving to the ceiling and hummed the hymn Ron and George were singing earlier.

"No… No, she's just trying to get rid of a Wrackspurt or something, aren't you Luna?" asked Ginny.

"No, I was just enjoying myself" said Luna and sat next to Ginny breathing heavily. "I would love to play a game with friends. I always played by myself."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked George and handed everyone a glass of Firewhiskey the waiter just brought them. "I'll start: I've never got drunk!"

Ginny and Luna giggled and bot took a sip. Everybody looked at them in surprise and waited for an explanation.

"What?" Ginny asked. "It's not part of the game to tell you, is it?"

"Well I insist to know" said Ron curiously. "George can't we make her tell?"

"Well how about a rule we add to this game? You have to tell the story behind your deed!" said George and laughed over Ginny's protests

"It's my game so I'll make the rules, Ginny. So you tell the story!"

Ginny looked around for help but all of her friends stared at her and waited for her to tell them the story. Because she couldn't find a way out of it she sighed.

"Well, it was shortly after our N.E.W.T.'s. You know we thought about celebrating. Well… Luna, John and David, you know those two from Ravenclaw, me and Kathy thought about sneaking into the kitchen and get some food. Well down there Kathy found some bottles of Red Currant Rum and well we made ourselves comfortable and, you know we had a lot of fun until we almost got caught."

"Yeah, that was because Ginny couldn't stop giggling at everything and the portraits felt disturbed." Luna added. Everybody looked at them with disbelief.

"Who would have thought that our little Ginny is a party girl?" asked George.

"What would mum think about this?" asked Ron smiling mischievous.

"Well, Ron-" started Hermione but Harry cut her off: "Ron, don't forget that you could easily receive a one of her Bat-Bogey-Hexes!"

"And besides, Ron, what happens at the Foaming Vial stays at the Foaming Vial. Who's next? What about you Luna?"

"Oh I'd love to. Hmm… I never kissed someone?"

They all took a sip and laughed.

"Who wants to start to tell us who they kissed first?" asked Ginny and looked around to pick someone "What about you, Hermione?"

"Despite from Ron…?" she looked as if she didn't want to say it "Viktor Krum…"

Ron made a disgusted noise and Hermione glared at him. "And what about you, Ron?" she asked angrily.

"Oh come on, everybody already knows that… But anyway, Hermione, you know that you're the only one for me" said Ron and kissed her on the cheek.

"Cute, Ron" said George watching the two laughing "Katie Bell at the Yule Ball. Whoa big surprise, let's go on then… Neville?"

"Hannah Abbott" whispered Neville so quiet nobody was sure if he actually said it at all. He was blushing and avoiding everybody's glance. As curious as Ginny was, she would never ask him about it. At least not in front of everybody else…

George looked like he wanted to pick on him so Ginny said quickly: "Mine was Michael Corner! I think at the end of my third year it was"

As Ginny expected, Ron looked outraged and George rather amused. "WAIT! WHAT?"

"Oh please, don't make a big deal out of it" said Ginny

"You and Michael Corner? That git kissed you?"

"That's why I never tell you anything!"

Ron looked as if he'd explode any minute. He breathed heavily and looked at George and Harry for help. Neither of them looked happy but they didn't say anything.

"Come on Ron, she's old enough!" tried Hermione to calm him down. He glared at her for a moment as if he wanted to argue but then he changed his mind and took another sip.

"The only one who's left is you Harry" said Hermione after a while to break the silence.

"Oh mate, you certainly thought you could get away. Come on tell us!" said George

Harry looked at Ginny for a moment and said: "Cho Chang in the Room of Requirement"

For some stupid reason Ginny felt jealous when she heard Cho's name. It's not as if she had any right but even to think about her kissing him felt painful. She couldn't help but imagine them both together and it made her sick for some reasons. Maybe she wasn't as over him as she thought she was. But as she noticed him looking at her, as if to search something in her eyes, Ginny put on a smile and started a quick conversation with Luna.

"Oh Luna, don't you tell me you've never kissed anyone!"

"No, I really haven't"

"That's unbelievable!"

"Why? I mean you only kiss someone you really like, don't you?"

Ginny remained silent for a moment. Then she smiled and said: "Yes! Yes, you're right!"

"By the way, you can stop talking to me, he isn't looking anymore" said Luna. Ginny blushed and wanted to explain herself but Luna already turned away. She always seemed to know everything.

"Can I be next?" asked Ron and without waiting for an answer he added: "I've never read _Hogwarts: A History_"

Hermione took a sip and everybody laughed at her.

"Seriously guys? Not even you, Neville?" she asked surprised.

"Hermione, are you really surprised? You're the only witch I know who had ever read that book!" said Ron and grinned

"So you just want her to get drunk?" Harry asked

"Not cool, Harry!" Ron quickly said and then to Hermione: "No, no of course not!"

But Hermione just giggled and threw her arms around Ron. Ron blushed but let her pull him in for a kiss. Luna and Ginny giggled while George made a sound as if he would purge.

"Well, I guess that's already done" said Ginny to Harry. He lifted his hands, cheered in their direction and mumbled "To love!"

"I think we can do a last round and then we'll call it a night, alright?" asked George concerned.

"It would be bad if we'd have a hangover tomorrow, don't you think Ginny?" asked Neville "I mean, since we'll be traveling all day"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"We won't be apparating. We'll travel like muggles" said Neville proud but after he saw the look on Harry's face he frowned "It… It was Ginny's idea"

Harry turned to face Ginny who wasn't expecting him to be concerned but she kept her mask of friendly serenity.

"What the hell, Ginny?"

Her smile faded at once. He spoke with such intensity that her heart made a little jump. Ginny wasn't sure if it was affection or fear she was feeling towards him in that moment. He waited, demanding her to explain herself. Ginny swallowed hard.

"We wanted to make a little "road trip" out of it. Since neither of us really travelled somewhere without using magic, we wanted to make as much experience as possible."

"Ginny, it's dangerous!" He almost shouted. Because Ginny didn't know what else to do and she was feeling giddy she giggled

"Come on, what could possibly happen to us? It's not as if we still had to fear Voldemort returning?"

"No, but there are still many Death Eater walking around!"

"It's not as if we couldn't defend ourselves! We've all been members of the DA, did you forget that?"

Harry was still furious and not at all satisfied with her point of view. He sighed, put his glasses down and rubbed his eyes.

"Why do you have to be so stupid?"

That was the point when Ginny Weasley exploded. Nobody ever called her _stupid_! Not even her brothers to make fun of her. And that Harry, of all people, of whom she still thought very highly, had the guts to call her stupid hurt the most and made her even more angry.

"Well, excuse me Mr Harry Potter that I'm so stupid that I don't want to hide away my whole life. Excuse me that I'm so stupid that I don't know how to defend myself properly-"

"You don't understand, I-" Harry started but Ginny didn't let him.

"Oh and now excuse me that I don't understand anything. I must be because I am so very stupid!"

She couldn't hold the tears anymore so she turned away from Harry and stared into five people staring startled at the scene. It was as if nobody was breathing. Great, now she was making an idiot out of herself.

"It came out wrong, Ginny, I-"

"It's okay, Harry. I understand!" she said quickly without looking at him. This wasn't something she wanted to discuss further in public. "Anyway guys, I'm pretty tired and we'll have to leave really early" She looked at Neville "Let's go then?"

"Um, sure!" said Neville after a quick glance at Harry. The group made their way towards the exit of the bar. George paid and they walked outside in silence. Ginny tried to avoid Harry as much as possible the whole way home.

Ginny immediately rushed towards the stairs and didn't even turn around once. She heard Ron whispering something to Harry but couldn't hear more than "Well done, mate. If you wanted to upset her, that's what you did. I thought you wanted to-"

She wanted to hear what he was saying and therefore she slowed down, but Luna, Neville and Hermione were right behind her. She sighed and was even angrier. But as soon as she was lying in her bed she thought about their journey and eventually she fell asleep.

The next morning at King's Cross nobody said a word. Either they were tired or sobbing or in a bad mood. Ginny sighed. She didn't want to leave like this so she turned around to face everybody and said:

"Um… Thank you for spending the day with us yesterday. I think we all had a lot of fun and well… I guess I'll see you around Christmas next time"

She hugged Hermione who could hide her tears making sure that she would write her as often as possible and kissed George on the cheek. Then she turned to Harry but didn't know what to do. He was looking sad and hurt, making Ginny feel a little guilty. But he should have known her by now. Trying to convince her not to do whatever she felt was right wasn't going to work. Though she was still angry at him, she put a big smile on her face and hugged him. He returned her smile and hugged her back. They quickly departed feeling awkward and smiled.

"Well, I'll see you soon, Harry!"

"I hope so. Be careful!"

Ginny rolled her eyes but added that she'd at least try. He laughed but it couldn't reach his eyes.

"I'll miss you!" she formed with her lips and saw him smiling and this time it reached his eyes and he (for some reasons) blushed. She then turned to the others.

"I'm going to miss you all... Except for maybe you, Ron" she joked but hugged him. Ron laughed and whispered in her ear, that he would miss her too.

"Who would have thought that this is going to be so hard to say goodbye?" she said after she hugged her parents for the hundred time it seemed.

Neville, Luna and Ginny entered the train and searched for a compartment. They had to carry everything by hand because right now it wasn't as easy as pulling out their wands anymore. Ginny was excited about their journey, they had everything planned and she hoped to see as much as possible.

Neville pulled out a camera. It looked like an ordinary camera the muggles used but since it was Neville's, she knew that it wasn't. It looked so inconspicuous and after Neville took pictures Ginny knew that he must have put an incognito spell on it. She was impressed that Neville thought about something like that. She certainly wouldn't.

"Wow, Neville, you really thought about everything, didn't you?" asked Ginny. Neville smiled and put the camera back in his backpack. The train started to move and they looked out of the window and waved at her family and friends.

"This is going to be exciting!" said Luna. Ginny believed her. She could feel it. She waved once more and smiled. Yes, it was going to be exciting.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you guys, if you like this story please review. It always makes me smile.

They've been traveling through landscapes and cities and never got tired of looking around. Ginny felt as free as never before. She felt as if she had forgotten how to feel happy somehow. At home everything reminded her of the war and its aftermaths.

She could see that Neville and Luna felt the same. Though Harry's words about how stupid it was to travel like muggles with all the Death Eaters still walking around were still on her mind, she knew that it was the right thing to do.

She thought about all the times the three of them had fought along with Harry, had defeated them and had won. She wasn't that eleven year old child in the Chamber anymore.

She never thought about that time. It was still hard for her to explain how she could have let Tom in. He was so charming and understanding and always to be an outcast it was nice to have someone to whom she could talk to.

Ginny shivered. No, she told herself, this trip would not become a self-pity party. She had locked herself in her room for years filled with guilt and shame. Ginny only brought this time up once. She talked about that with Harry in his fifth year. She tried to comfort him after Sirius' death.

_It was just about a few days after they returned from the ministry and Harry seemed devastated. Nobody could comfort him. Hermione told her that he didn't even talk to them._

_She had noticed but she hadn't said anything until that time. But he seemed to fall deeper and deeper into that black hole she called home and because she knew she could help him she talked to him._

_She spotted him wandering around in the castle as if he was trying to avoid everyone. She followed him away from the students who made their way towards the Great Hall or the Library._

"_Harry?" she called after she made sure nobody else was in the corridor. She walked next to him slowing down "Can we talk for a minute?"_

_Harry seemed surprised at first and Ginny used this so he could not escape by giving her any excuses._

"_It won't take long, I promise" she added and grabbed his arm. She led him to her secret spot. Not even Hermione knew it existed. Well, maybe Luna did but she knew she would never tell anyone._

_The sun was almost touching the lake. It was the most beautiful view she could imagine and she shared it with Harry. They sat down and took the view in for a few minutes. Neither of them said something. Their hands just inches away from touching and Ginny knew if she would dare to touch him she would regret it. She fought the urge to and succeeded. Years of training, she suggested._

"_You know, I never showed this place to anyone…" Ginny started and waited until Harry met her gaze. His beautiful green eyes, she thought and lost herself for a moment._

"_Harry, I…" _

_Harry looked away and sighed annoyed. He clearly thought that she wanted to tell him how sorry she was about Sirius and that it wasn't his fault and all the other stuff people must have told him to make him feel better. Harry stood up and Ginny imitated his movement. He opened his mouth to say something but Ginny didn't let him._

"_Look, I will not give you a speech about how sorry I am and stuff" she said quickly. Harry swallowed his words and waited for her to continue. He seemed to be interested in hearing what she had to say._

"_I know you're upset and everything and I know that you think it was your fault what happened that night. And let's face it: It kind of is your fault."_

_Harry looked at her wide-eyed but then he nodded. It made her heart ache because she did most certainly not want him to feel guilty._

"_Yes it is. I shouldn't have let Voldemort trick me like that. I should have known that he would try something like that. It's my fault Sirius came that night…" said Harry more angry than sad._

"_What? No, that was not what I was talking about" said Ginny and gave him an annoyed glare "Seriously, Harry, all year you struggled with yourself, trying to find out if Voldemort possessed you or not. Acting all weird and trying to fight all by yourself. Why do you never ask for help, Harry?"_

_Harry looked at her in surprise. That was absolutely not what he was expecting. Ginny waited for an answer but when she saw that he couldn't give her on she continued:_

"_All you had to do was asking one simple question, Harry. And do you know who you could have asked?"_

_This time she wouldn't give him mercy. She demanded him to answer. She wanted to hear from his lips that he didn't know._

"_No… No I don't know… I mean who could have known…?"_

_She heard him say it and it hurt more than she expected. He didn't remember at all. She told herself that it was only good for her to hear it. It just proved what she already knew. Little Weasley was just appendage. Thank you very much, Harry Potter, for making this clear._

"_Well you could have asked me" she shouted. She didn't want to raise her voice like this but anger was better than grief. "I was possessed by him and I could have told you what it felt like!"_

_Harry looked confused but then he seemed to remember everything._

"_The Chamber…" he said and took a step towards her "You…Of course… How could I ever-"_

"_Yeah… You forgot…" she said and laughed hard. Of course he had. "Well, lucky you. But I haven't. And I could have helped you. I could…" She couldn't speak further because she knew she would say too much._

"_Ginny… I-"_

"_I know" she said without letting him say anything else "Well just do us all a favour and start asking for help. Maybe there are things you need to do, but even Harry Potter does not have to fight __**every**__ battle on his own"_

_Harry didn't say anything. It was as if he was trying to make out if her words were making sense at all. She smiled at him and turned to face the grounds she loved and feared at the same time. The Great Hall was illuminated as the sun disappeared into the lake and the creatures of the Forbidden Forest made noises._

_Ginny took the view in and promised herself that she would move on. Fancying Harry had only made her miserable and she wanted to be happy. The moment they would enter the castle again, Ginny would see Harry as a friend of her brother and only a friend. Maybe one day she could love him like a brother, she thought, like she loved Percy or Charlie._

_She looked at him longingly, for the last time, hoping he could see in her eyes what she could not say. She tried to read in his eyes what he was thinking as he was staring into hers with an intensity she had never seen. Was he still struggling with what she said? Was he about to laugh about her? _

_She was dying to know but she would never ask. It could be something she didn't need to hear at all. It would only make her feel a lot worse than she already felt. She looked away from him. _

"_Let's go back" she said and started walking towards the castle. He hesitated but then followed her. None of them said anything. It felt as if everything has been said between them._

_When they reached the Entrance Harry turned to face her. He looked into her eyes for a long moment and it was hard for her to not break her promise at once._

"_Ginny, I… I'm sorry, honestly. And-" he said but was interrupted when the big doors swung open. They turned around to see Ron and Hermione waiting at the staircase. They seemed to wait for him._

"_Well, I better get going" she said. She smiled one last time and as she stepped over the swelling she let go. Everything she would be doing in the future would be only for herself so she could finally become happy. _

It was the first time she really did something for herself. Yes, doing this would only make her happy and nobody else. It was selfish but for now she didn't care.

Lost in her thoughts she didn't recognize that Neville was talking to her.

"Sorry, what did you just say?"

"I wanted to know if you're hungry, too" repeated Neville laughing. It remembered her of the times the three of them wandered around Hogwarts and rebelled in the underground. Ginny seemed to lose herself in her thoughts often, but Neville never asked. Instead he always laughed and repeated what he said.

That was why he was her best friend. She couldn't stand it when people always wanted to know everything. Therefor she was that close to Luna and Neville: Either they knew what she was thinking or they didn't ask.

Ginny noticed just in that moment how hungry she really was.

"Yes, should we search the restaurant in this train or-" she said but when she saw the look on Neville's face she stopped.

"Ginny, how long are we friends now?" he asked with an expression as if she had hurt his feelings "I'm always prepared. And having you as a friend, I'm twice as prepared"

"Oh shut up. If I was as clumsy as you I'd be prepared, too" Ginny laughed.

"Yes, Neville, I bet you forgot to pack the sandwiches" said Luna und smiled. Neville wanted to protest but then he thought about it and looked in his backpack as if he wanted to make sure he didn't forget them for real.

Luna and Ginny held their stomachs while watching Neville looking through his stuff almost in panic. Ginny and Luna exchanged a look as if to decide if they'll release him from his misery or if they'd watch him panic for a little longer.

"Oh Neville, I have them in my backpack" said Ginny finally. She handed Luna and him one and they ate them.

It's gotten dark outside and the trio were still on the train. Neville was sleeping and Luna and Ginny were talking about this and that.

"You know, Ginny, I really don't want to upset you or anything, but I think we should talk about you and Harry" said Luna suddenly.

"Well then don't. There is nothing to talk about. Me and Harry, we are friends. That's all"

Luna smiled. Before Ginny could hold her tongue she said:

"What? You think I'm lying don't you?"

"No, but I think you know that there is more between you two"

"Because you, like everybody else, think that I can't help myself but still be in love with him. Isn't that what Harry thinks, too? Why he's always so intimidated by me?" Ginny almost screamed.

Luna and Ginny remained silent for a moment and waited for Neville to make any evidence that he was awake. But he didn't.

"Ginny, I could tell you whatever you want to hear, but I won't. You know that you can never be just friends. He couldn't just be your friend either, even if he tried"

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.

"Don't you see it? Or are you ignoring it?"

"I don't know what you mean"

"Really? You don't know it? Are you sure you don't want to admit what you're feeling?"

"Luna, you're not making any sense. What do you think am I feeling? That I'm not over Harry? I don't think I'll have to-"

"I'm not talking about your feelings for him"

Ginny looked at her with a puzzled look.

"Well-" started Luna but then she looked at Neville and recognized something. Ginny looked at sleeping Neville and then back at Luna "No… You should find it out yourself"

"But, Luna…" said Ginny but she knew that Luna wouldn't change her mind and so she hoped that she would find out soon.

"We'll be there in a few minutes" said Neville suddenly. Was he awake the whole time? Or maybe it was Neville waking up that Luna recognized.

Ginny blushed. Seriously, why would he remain silent and listen to their conversation? Not that she cared because she would tell Neville everything, but maybe she needed girl-talk more than she knew.

They arrived at their first destination and went to the little guesthouse right next to the station.

As soon as Ginny got to their room Ginny threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes. She didn't feel tired at all but she wanted some time alone. As soon as Neville and Luna decided to make a little shopping tour in the town they were staying, Ginny got up and walked over to the window.

It was a quiet little town, famous for the many mysterious stories. Though it was a normal day of the week, a lot of people seemed to be on the streets and Ginny could hear music from afar. It seemed to be a party going on or something, she thought.

And she was right, Neville and Luna rushed back into the room after a while shouting excited:

"There's a big party going on, come on Ginny let's go there"

"Aren't we lucky? There are about 15 people who are getting married. We'd be dancing at 15 different weddings" said Luna and twirled around.

"It's one legendary story of this town. Something about, every pair who is getting married tonight will live happily ever after or something like that" said Neville excited.

Because Ginny didn't want to spend the evening alone thinking about this or that and because she told herself before she wanted to enjoy this trip, she dressed up and the trio went to celebrate with hundreds of unknown.

They followed the crowd to a market place where loud music was playing and the people were dancing and singing along. Someone grabbed Ginny's hand and because she was caught by surprise she let the old man drag her to dance with him. She danced with him and laughed from the bottom of her heart when she saw Neville and Luna trying to copy the dance everybody else seemed to know. They looked so awkward as they stumbled over their own feet and tried to catch up with the beat.

It seemed as if the town never got tired and so the trio danced and laughed until they couldn't feel their feet anymore. At some point Ginny found herself standing next to a boy her age.

"So, how come I've never seen you around?" asked a boy with blonde hair. He was tall and handsome and had this little smirk which could make any girl go all dizzy.

"We're just travelling through this town" she said and looked for Luna and Neville. She winked in their direction when she saw the concerned look on their faces. As if she couldn't handle him, with or without using magic.

"My name's Chris" he said and took her hand to shake it. "By the way"

"Ginny" she said and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Ginny. I must admit, I've seen you before but I didn't have the courage to speak to you"

Ginny thought this was a bit creepy. But since she knew she wouldn't see him after this day and Neville and Luna just a few steps away, she might as well talk to him. He seemed nice. He'd been growing up in this town and told her a lot of stories about it.

"This is a really fascinating town" laughed Ginny, "But now you'll have to tell me, why so many couples got married today"

"I could've guessed that you'd be interested in hearing this story" he said and smiled

"Ah you could've guessed?" said Ginny. She expected him to tell her that every girl asked that question or that everybody wanted to know what was so enchanting about that night.

"Tell me if I'm wrong, but I guess you wanted to talk about anything but personal stuff?"

Ginny was stunned. She didn't think that Chris could see through her disguise. She must have made a stupid face because Chris burst out laughing until he had to hold his stomach.

"The look on your face was priceless. Don't worry. I'm not a killer or something like that"

"Well, I have my doubts" said Ginny laughing.

He acted as if her words had hurt him but laughed, too. They sat together talking for a while when suddenly Ginny felt someone staring at her. She looked around to catch someone's eyes and stopped when she saw figure disappearing into the shadows of the buildings.

She was alarmed and excused herself that she had to find her friends. Chris offered to accompany her and she thought it would be better if he'd stay away from her. It could've been a Death Eater. But if this was the case and the figure had seen her with him, Chris could be in danger as well. They should've been more careful, she thought as both walked through the crowd to find Luna and Neville.

"We should go now. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow" said Ginny as soon as she found them and then she turned to Chris, "It was nice meeting you, but I guess we should bid farewell"

Chris gave her a half smile and then he gave her a piece of paper where he wrote his address on. He leaned closer to her and whispered: "Or you could send me an owl anytime and we just say _bye for now_"

Ginny looked at him with disbelief. He had to be kidding her. It had been the second time in one evening where this guy had made her speechless.

"You mean you are…" stuttered Ginny, "Seriously, you are full of mysteries"

"Just like this town" he said and winked as Ginny and her friends went back to the guesthouse.

As soon as they arrived Ginny closed the door and look down on the streets. She didn't turn any lights on and Neville and Luna looked at her questioningly.

"_Muffliato_" she said and then turned to face them. "I think someone observed me tonight!"

"What? Who? Did you see someone?" asked Neville. Luna made a concerned face as she waited for Ginny to answer the questions.

"I don't know. I just saw a strange figure disappearing from the spot I felt someone watching me" said Ginny and paced trying to figure out what she saw.

"It could've been someone from the guests" said Neville

"Yeah, probably, but what if it wasn't? It didn't feel like someone was just seeing me. I can't explain it but I felt someone staring at me. As if that someone was just looking for me there…"

"I don't know what this was" said Luna, "but I think we'll have to be more careful than we thought"

Ginny stopped by the window and looked up and down the dark street. She saw a few people trying to make their way home, still singing and lurching and a dog sniffing in the rubbish bins. She could still hear some music and the people laughing.

They had been too careless, she thought. But it was the first night she had fun for ages. And that she didn't regret.


	4. Chapter 4

_Then Ginny woke up and realized it was all a dream… NO NO WAIT! This isn't over yet. I was currently traveling around, but I promise that I'll update as soon as possible. Keep on reading and reviewing, wanna know what you're thinking. Xoxo embraceyourSun_

Ginny woke up really early in the morning and looked at Luna who was lying next to her. She wondered how she could sleep so well while Neville was snoring loudly. Ginny stared at the ceiling and hummed a song that stuck in her head all night. It was a song they played at the party the night before.

Not a slightest bit of the sun could be seen and Ginny thought about trying to sleep a little, when she suddenly heard something tapping against the window. She wasn't sure if she should look what it was but curiosity made her get up and grab her wand.

She made her way to the window, took a breath and pushed the curtains aside. The owl almost let the Prophet fall. Ginny opened the window quickly and took the Prophet before the owl realized what just happened. She gave her the money and closed the window. Those owls could be very mean sometimes and Ginny didn't want to start a fight with an owl. She still wasn't at that point.

She laughed to herself and opened the newspaper. She went over the news not being sure what she was looking for. But she didn't find Ron's, Harry's or Hermione's nor any other well-known name in it. She was relieved and recognized, that she still feared to read bad news about murdering or missing.

Ginny put the Prophet aside and watched Luna and Neville still sleeping. She wondered which amount of time will pass until it was appropriate to write a letter to Chris. But… Was she really excited right now? She didn't have this feeling of excitement about a guy since… Well she didn't remember, at least she didn't want to. She went into the bathroom and took a rather cold shower to clear her mind. Wash every thought about the-boy-she-didn't-want-to-think-about away. It helped.

The sun was making its way up into the sky when Ginny decided to wake up her friends. They were awake quickly, like a habit they got in old times, as if they'd expect something bad going on around them.

"Good morning you two" said Ginny with the brightest of smile. She was still wondering why it was easy to get used to being alarmed all the time but not giving it up. Even after all this time.

"Why are you so cheerful this early morning?" asked Neville "You've always been the last to get up"

"Well…" started Ginny. She didn't really have an explanation for why she was early today. But she had been feeling a lot happier when they finally started their journey. "I'm just excited about traveling to our next destination"

It wasn't even a lie but the easiest explanation she could offer them.

Neville accepted this answer and as soon as he seemed to remember, that they were actually on a trip, he got up quickly to get dressed. Luna remained staring to the ceiling as if she was watching something or someone. Ginny was too scared to ask her, because she didn't want to hear anything about Nargles or whatever it was at this moment. She supposed it was somewhat of a morning ritual, Luna was doing and left it with that. Though they had grown close, Luna had still been a mystery for her sometimes.

They left the guesthouse quickly and made their way to the train station. Ginny was looking around in town, wondering if she would see him once again. But there were no sign of Chris or their stalker or anybody else.

"Seems like yesterday ended very late" said Neville and laughed as they arrived at the station "And you could send him an owl anytime, remember?"

Ginny blushed (why was she even blushing?) and looked at Neville with an half angry half embarrassed expression trying to hit him with her bag. He ducked and laughed at her while Luna was cheering Ginny to go for the head.

"He was really nice, you know this Chris guy" said Luna while Neville was buying their tickets. "Maybe you should really write him"

Ginny looked at her hand. She was thinking about this too but apparently not as much as Neville and Luna.

"Yeah, maybe I'll do that"

"But you don't seem too happy about it though"

"Well, I don't even know him. I just met him yesterday, what are you expecting?"

Luna smiled knowingly. And if Ginny wanted to be true to herself, she could be excited like she once was, after… but no, no, no and once again no. She was determined to like him and she already did. Not that feeling like thinking about him every time and stuff like that. But she could think of many people who grew to like each other. At least she could try.

As they waited for their train to arrive they all were occupied with stuff. Neville was writing a letter while an unfamiliar owl was sitting next to him and waited impatiently for him to finish it (where did it come from all of a sudden?), Luna was reading the Quibbler and Ginny was following her thoughts. When she got bored, she tried to figure out who Neville was writing to. As soon as he saw her, he tried to cover it with his hand.

"Is it a secret?" asked Ginny suspiciously. Neville giggled nervous but didn't answer. "Are you writing to your girlfriend?"

She still got no answer. Neville finished his letter and let an owl fly away with it.

"Luna do you know something?" she looked over at Luna but she just shrugged without even looking up. They didn't seem to be very chatty right now

"Whatever…" she answered and blew a strand of hair out of her face. She continued to think about this and that and felt so tired all of a sudden. As soon as they got into the train she closed her eyes, just for a minute as she told herself but found herself dreaming of the old days.

"Ginny! Ginny!" Luna said "Are you alright?"

Ginny opened her eyes. She didn't remember anything, but the look on Neville's and even on Luna's face was answer enough. She had dreamt of the chamber. Again.

"Yeah… I… Nightmare…" she said and reached for the bottle of water, Neville was offering her.

"We're almost there" said Neville. He looked at his clock, than at something that reminded Ginny of a map but with its many numbers and words changing positions she felt dizzy by watching them.

"Yeah, we could eat lunch there and look around for a little while"

They agreed. Having some time for looking around and taking some photos would be great, wouldn't it? As soon as they arrived at the station, the three looked for a quiet corner where they could magically shrink their luggage.

It was a bigger town this time, with more people walking around, but this day they didn't feel like meeting somebody, therefore they bought some sandwiches and made a little hiking trip to a lake where they decided to spend the afternoon.

At some point they decided to go swimming. Though Neville was concerned at first (he said he didn't really want to know what creatures lived there) he agreed and they ran into the lake fully clothed. Neville took some pictures of them playing around until Ginny grabbed it and took some of him in return.

They felt safe and had fun until Ginny noticed something moving behind the trees. She immediately grabbed her wand and called:

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

She didn't receive an answer. Because she didn't know if there were only some muggle kids or if it was a wizard she didn't shoot a spell into the woods. She waited a second before she called again.

"Show yourself or else I can't guarantee what will happen"

Still no answer... Neville and Luna were next to her. With their wands ready they searched the environment for any strange movements. Ginny's heart raced at a high speed when she decided to go looking for the intruder.

"I'm counting to 3!" she threatened

"Oh bloody hell, she is serious" she heard a well-known voice saying.

"ONE"

No one appeared.

"TWOOO"

Still no movement.

"THREEE!" she shouted "STUPE-"

"Okay, okay" said the voice and shortly after Ron, George and Harry appeared. "Blimey, Ginny you can scare people just by threatening them"

Ginny couldn't believe her eyes. What the hell did they do here? Were they following them? Ginny didn't know where to start. She looked at Neville and Luna who looked back at her with the same puzzled look she must have had.

"What…?" was all she could say.

"Uff… this is not as fun as I thought it would be…" said George and laughed nervously.

"Even you, Harry?" asked Ginny. Her brothers following her was something she could- even if she didn't approve- live with. But Harry Potter sneaking after her? That was beyond her imagination.

"There's some explanation you have to make" said Luna "What about we sit down and eat some sandwiches, because I'm hungry now"

They sat in silence for a while just eating the sandwiches and avoiding each eyes. Ginny tried to figure out what could have possibly gone through their head appearing here all of a sudden, even scaring them to death and now avoiding eye-contact.

Though she too was avoiding someone's eyes in particular, she told herself that this would not make her miserable at all. It was like seeing an old friend again and if the situation wasn't awkward at that moment, she tried to convince herself that she would be making small talk with him.

How are you, Harry? Oh me, too. How's work going? Good? Great and how's Hermione? Oh I already miss her, too. Yeah, I'll see her at the university. Oh we had a fun trip until now.

Yes, that would be the things she would be talking about. And she would smile and laugh. A lot. Yes, Ginny was certain that he would see her as a friend… somehow…

"Well if nobody is going to start" said Ginny as soon as she calmed herself "how about I ask you what the hell you were doing here?"

"Well…" started Ron but George cleared his throat and Harry gave him a look and he remained silent.

"You want me to get some Veritaserum?" she asked angrily.

"We'll tell you anyway… I told you this was a bad idea…" said George and exchanged looks with Harry but didn't say another word.

"We were looking after you" said Harry suddenly. Ginny looked at him in disbelief and was almost about to laugh if he wouldn't be looking so serious in that moment.

"Oh, that's nice, but not necessary" said Luna while playing with the sandwich in her hand.

Ginny looked from Harry to Ron and George who were still avoiding eye-contact with her.

"I don't believe you" she said finally. "Since when…?"

"Since you started. We were always there" he said and almost smiled. Ginny lost herself in his eyes for a moment and he too seemed to be caught in hers. They were following them? But why?

"Why…?" she finally asked.

"Why what?" asked Ron while eating. He seemed to feel more confident now.

"Why are you following us?" she repeated impatient.

"Because we didn't think you were ready for that" he answered fast.

Ginny looked at Neville and Luna for help because she didn't want to hex either of them nor did she want to get so angry that she wouldn't remember what had happened. She felt the blood rushing into her cheeks but she remained silent while waiting for Neville or Luna to defend them.

Neville was looking everywhere but at her and Luna was busy with her sandwich. Ginny felt like she would explode any minute, therefore she got up and took a few quick steps. She didn't want to believe them. How could they possibly…

But at that exact moment she had a suspicion that they were lying. Just in the moment she wanted to say something, Luna asked:

"Ah, so someone of you observed Ginny yesterday at the feast?"

None of them gave an answer. Ginny looked at them quickly and saw incomprehension, then shock in her brothers' eyes. She looked at Harry and saw something else. Something that almost looked like panic.

"Someone… Someone observed you?" he asked between his teeth. It was almost impossible for her to understand him. He breathed heavily while waiting for an answer and that was the proof that they were lying about following them.

"So you just lied to me. You haven't been following us. What did you really do?" she asked and ignored Harry.

"This isn't important now, Ginny. What did happen yesterday?" asked George while Ron got up, folding his arms.

"Yes, it is"

"Ginny, someone observed you yesterday!" George almost screamed. She hadn't seen him that concerned since the war…

"Nothing happened, really, I think I've just imagined it anyway… But now let's face the fact that you were here in the woods. What are you doing here?"

None of them seemed satisfied by her answer nor did they say anything else. Ginny saw them exchanging quick glances and was about to ask once again when Neville suddenly said something.

"Did you say something, Neville?" she asked and looked at him.

"Yes… I have told them were we are… you remember the letter, don't you? I wrote them where we were going to, because they couldn't find us yesterday…"

They all looked at Neville in disbelief. Even the three of them who should be familiar with the story. Ginny looked at Harry and as soon as he recognized her staring at him, he made a serious face and acted as if he would know what Neville was talking about.

They must think that she was an idiot or something but if even Neville had to lie for them, there were big things going on. She was about to argue with them but she thought about another option. Maybe… yes, maybe Neville knew what was going on and with Harry, who she couldn't get to tell her the truth, she couldn't talk to George or Ron.

"Oh you did?" asked Ginny between her teeth. She stared at Neville who was still not looking at her and felt suddenly fear. She wasn't sure why, but she knew that there must be something huge, something evil going on and nobody should know about this.

Because she didn't want to ruin her mood any further she decided to leave it as it was. For now!

Luna suddenly asked them, if they wanted to go back into the water and play around a little. George and Ron, who apparently wanted to be as far away from Ginny as possible, agreed and ran off as fast as they could. That left only herself, Neville and Harry.

Both boys were in a conversation about this and that and though Ginny felt left out, she didn't join them. Instead, she was about to go on a walk but just walked a few steps away from them and watched her brothers and Luna from a distance.

But shortly after, Neville decided to take some photos of the others playing in the lake and Ginny found herself being spoken to by Harry.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked

"I wanted to know how your journey was until now"

"Well it was fun. We only been away since yesterday, so we didn't really see much, but yeah, I'm enjoying it" she said smilingly.

"That's great" Harry answered a little sad as it seemed.

"Yes" she said and after a few moments of silence she added "How's work lately? It's not like we haven't seen each other for a long time, but I didn't really ask, didn't I?"

"Well I didn't tell anyway. It's… It's great… Not really that much of fun, because we're searching for former Death Eater. So, you see, I have urgent business right now and-"

Ginny listened closely and saw him hesitate before he looked at her in panic. Death Eater? What were they up to?

"Yeah… That's it, I suppose" he added fast. But Ginny was still concerned.

"Death Eater…? Harry, I thought-"

"It's nothing big, really" he said and took Ginny's hand. A million little electro shocks started to make their way starting from the spot he just touched. She held her breath and felt how blood rushed into her cheeks. What a reaction to just a simple touch, she thought but didn't move at all.

"Don't worry" he breathed before he let go of her hand. Ginny looked up and tried to catch his eyes but he looked the other way. She wasn't sure if she was just imagining him blushing, as if he just realized that he had actually held her hand. At that exact moment she realized what happened and blushed once again, looking in the other direction.

She caught Luna's eyes, who was just getting out of the water and saw her smiling brightly. Was that what Luna meant when she said that she had to find out when they were talking about a certain feeling she had? Could it be that…? No, this was impossible.

Ginny looked back at Harry but he already made his way to the others, so Ginny joined him. She left a little distance between them, because she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. And he shouldn't be thinking that Ginny would interpret the world in a little grain of sand…

"Well we should be going" said Harry after they dried themselves. "It's getting late"

"Yeah" said Ron and smiled nervously "Hermione will be worried if we don't return in time…"

So Hermione knew about all of this... This was getting more and more absurd…

"Well it was nice to see you, guys" said George "Have a nice trip, we won't be following you again, because we know that you can defend yourself"

With the last sentence he looked especially at Ginny. She didn't know if she should laugh or glare at him and for a second she thought about hexing him.

She found Harry standing next to her again.

"It was nice to see you again. I hope to see you soon?" It was more of a question but before Ginny could say anything else she heard a "plop" and the three of them were gone.

"What a weird day" said Luna and smiled. Yeah, weird indeed and now that they were alone she could ask Neville what he knew. But before she could say anything Neville said:

"I don't know what they're doing, Ginny, I just told them where we were going to, because they were worried about us"

Ginny wasn't satisfied. She had a suspicion and now that she heard Harry talking about some _urgent business_ and _searching for Death Eaters_ she couldn't help herself but she had a bad feeling about this…


	5. Chapter 5

_Here we go again, sorry for keeping you waiting, please r&r and I hope to update soon. Stay strong xoxo embraceyoursun_

The days passed by and the three visited many different places but soon they finally arrived at the university.

It was a magical place, of course not as magical as Hogwarts has been, but still impressing. Ginny couldn't wait to look around and explore every part of the ground. She already looked around and went a few steps away from Neville and Luna. Both didn't really know what to do, they followed Ginny around but weren't half as enthusiastic as her.

But at that time, Ginny didn't care. She was finally free. Finally away from them all. Finally able to really move. Literally.

After they signed in, they were shown their rooms and to their surprise, Neville was put into another house.

"Oh, I thought we would live in the same building" said Luna while both girls got into their room. Ginny could clearly see that Luna was upset about it. She wasn't too sure if it was the same amount of disappointment Ginny felt, too. But she wouldn't think about it. Not today, she told herself.

"I want to look around. See you later?" she said and without waiting for an answer, Ginny left the room. She looked around for a bit but was already in awe. She would like it here. She knew she would.

But otherwise she thought about those what seemed to be endless years in Hogwarts. There she had seen all of her friends every day. Her brothers all were being alive and happy. Harry Potter.

Her heart ached just by thinking about it. She hadn't really thought about the consequences of leaving. She had opened that door not only for her to move on, but also for Harry to be out of her reach. It wasn't as if she had any influence on him before, but she kind of felt like her presence could possibly make him see her as something different as "Ron Weasley's little sister". Hot naive has she been? She couldn't resist but tell herself over and over again that if she stayed, she would have to _watch_ him meet someone he loved. This way it would only been a note in a letter from Hermione…

Hermione! Ginny suddenly remembered that she promised her to write but it has been weeks and probably Hermione was already mad at her. She made her way back to her room and got out her quill and some sheets of paper:

_Dear Hermione,_

_I am so sorry that I didn't write until now. Many things happened at once and though there are so many things I wanted to tell you, to ask you or have your advice I was too busy looking around this magical place. I hope you can forgive me?_

_First of all, how are you? I hope your boyfriend already told me that we met and I wasn't really surprised when I didn't see you with them. But I'm sure you knew about this, didn't you?_

_That brings me to my first question and though I'm not too positive I'll get an answer I'll ask anyway: What are they really up to? And don't come up with anything, please. At least I hope you can give me a satisfying answer._

_Further, I wanted to tell you how beautiful it is here. I can't speak for the others but I like it here so far. I just noticed Luna is a bit sad because Neville is not staying in the same building as us… But I'm not going to ask about it._

_Well I think maybe Ron and Harry-_

Ginny stopped for a second. She didn't know how to tell Hermione about the party the other night… She really wanted to tell her about Chris and of her odd feeling that night, but otherwise she didn't want to make her friend worry about her…

Ginny decided to tell her about Chris but she won't mention her odd feeling. That would be best…

_Well I think Ron and Harry already told you anything that happened to us? Besides the beautiful places we've been and the creatures we've seen, we've also met a wizard back in our first stop._

_Well first I didn't know he was a wizard, I just thought he was a nice guy and we talked about everything and nothing but as I was about to say my farewell, he said I could send him an owl from time to time. Can you believe it? He already knew I was a witch…_

_Hermione, I really miss you here and I hope you can visit me sometime. But for now I hope you stay healthy and you write me back sometime!_

_Love,_

_Ginny_

After that Ginny wrote to her mother and a little note for George. She reread her letters before getting the owl and sent them. While walking back to her room thinking about classes and stuff when she suddenly bumped into a group of people.

With her head turning as red as her hair she mumbled her apologies and was about to run off, when she heard someone in the group laughing in a familiar tone.

"What do they say about meeting twice in a lifetime?"

Ginny immediately turned around. Chris was smiling at her while the group- of mostly girls as Ginny recognised- stared, no almost glared at her. Whoops what was with them?

But as soon as she heard Chris saying, that the tour would end right there and that he would show them around some time soon, Ginny understood. She didn't even bother looking up to know that they glared at her. Oh god…

"I didn't want to interrupt any-"

"S-okay" said Chris and smiled brightly "I'd rather spend some time with you"

Ginny blushed. Wait what? What exactly was happening to her? Well she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay with Chris or if she would rather talk to Luna about all this.

"Well I was about to look for Luna and Neville… We have to go sign up for our classes…"

"…So you have to go?" finished Chris. He looked a bit sad and Ginny felt guilty.

"Not… exactly. How about you show us the way?"

"Yeah… how about you let me buy you a coffee or some tea first and we search for them together?"

"O… Okay" agreed Ginny. He took her hand. They went together to the coffee shop at the campus and Chris gave her a cup and sat down in front of her.

"So…"

"So…?" Ginny looked up.

"Don't you think this is somehow… I don't know… Destiny?"

Ginny laughed. "Destiny?"

"Yeah, I mean we met a few weeks ago and now we're here… Destiny!"

"I tend to think you're stalking me…"

Chris almost spilled his coffee while laughing.

"Oh damn, you uncovered me"

They both laughed and Ginny forgot totally about her plan to spend some time with him and then make excuses to leave. She really enjoyed being in his company.

"May I ask, what you've been doing the past 3 weeks?"

"We were visiting the country… We went here and there, made new friends but most of all we weren't afraid to leave the house anymore"

"Well this is a pretty good excuse for why I haven't received any letter from you"

Ginny blushed. To be honest she didn't really plan on writing him anyway… well not until sometime in the future where she could think about all of this in peace.

"I haven't even been able to write my mother that often"

"Apology accepted" he said and smirked. Wow, he really was a handsome young man, Ginny thought before she noticed she was staring at him. She immediately looked at her cup as if she had found something interested.

"Thanks for the coffee" she said after they spent a while talking about this and that. "But now I really have to go looking for Luna and Neville…"

"Yeah, you're welcome… I'll walk you to your room?"

He asked. HE ASKED. Wow, nobody had ever asked her if he could do something for her… They just did it… and this was something she really couldn't stand it was nice to see someone actually asking.

"Yeah sure" she said before realising what she just agreed to.

"Great" he said and smiled "I really like being around you, Ginny"

They both blushed. Why would he say something like this and blush?

They made their way to the dorms and on their way Ginny realized that almost everybody turned around and started to whisper. She should be used to it. It happened often enough in Hogwarts but still…

They finally found them walking around and talking to some former Hogwarts students who Ginny didn't know the name of.

"Guys, do you remember Chris?"

"Ohh the boy who couldn't take his eyes off of you" Luna said and turned around.

"Chris, hey" said Neville at the same time and shook Chris' hand. Ginny was hoping that Chris didn't hear what Luna said, but the bright red colour on his cheeks told her otherwise. She pretended she didn't hear Luna or see him blush for the second time.

They went to the office and Chris helped them with their files. After that he announced:

"There's beach a few miles away from here… we could go there sometime, if you want to"

He was only talking to Ginny but she ignored it and looked at Neville and Luna.

"Yeah, I think we could do that" Luna answered for them. And if Ginny hoped Chris would give up, she was wrong. He took her hand and forced her to look at him.

"I meant just the both of us. But how about we have diner some time?"

Ginny bit her bottom lip. She wanted to, but somehow she wasn't quite sure if she was ready. She thought about Harry for a moment. It hurt. It still hurt. But it would probably never get better. But running from love just because she failed once?

"Sure" said Ginny without a second thought. She did like him. And maybe… Yeah maybe one day she'd be ready to let someone new in"

It seemed like he didn't want to wait till she changed her mind, because he said "see you" and went away.

"Oh my god, Ginny, what the hell is wrong with you?" asked Neville as soon as Chris was out of sight.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you torturing him so much? He really likes you, obviously"

"I said, yes?"

"But you looked like you rather wanted to say no…" Neville said and looked at her sincerely "Is this about Harry again"

Ginny was taken aback. Was this really going this way now? She became angry.

"Why would you think everything I do is because of Harry?"

Neville was surprised by her reaction. Obviously this wasn't his intention but still he had taken that road, he had to face the consequences.

"Ginny, I-"

"No! No, Neville. I'm so over this"

"No you're not" Neville said, almost angry "You're always thinking of him. It doesn't matter what you're doing you're always thinking of him"

Ginny opened her mouth to answer back but Neville lifted his hand to shut her up.

"It's true and you know it. Just admit it already. We made this trip with you to this university and we knew it was because you wanted to escape him. Probably even he knew it"

She was shocked. Neville has never been that angry at her.

"How could you say something like that?"

"I'm sick of seeing you letting your life pass by, while you waste your time on Harry"

Tears rolled down Ginny's face. He was right. She knew he was right but she didn't want to hear it. Not from someone whose words meant so much to her. Luna put an arm around her to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Ginny I never wanted to hurt you. But Luna and I can't stand to see you sad anymore… Chris is such a nice guy, why won't you give it a shot"

She didn't answer. She tried, didn't she? No, if she'd be honest with herself she knew that she was just pretending to try… And Neville knew. He had a point.

"I will, I promise" she whispered. Neville hugged her and Luna.

"I just want to see you happy again"

"I know. Thank you" she answered as she smiled into his chest.

They took classes and spent most of their time wandering around and meeting new people. She missed her brothers and most of all she missed Hermione. Though she knew Hermione was busy, she thought it was a bit odd that she didn't write her that often. One day she received a letter from her that made her suspicious. It wasn't what she wrote but what she didn't. She didn't tell anything about Harry or even Ron, she just told her about work and stuff. Ginny wrote her back what was going on but received another odd letter:

_Dear Ginny,_

_Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I really am. It's just… things are quite chaotic here, but I don't want to bother you with this. Well I heard of you and Chris (Luna told me) and I really think you should consider it… This is my personal opinion and I won't tell your brothers' because…. Well you know how he is._

_Work's really eating me these days and I wish I was with you, to be honest. I hope you're still well and the courses are fun?_

_Well, write me back_

_Love, H._

Why wouldn't she tell her what was happening. It was as if they would still have their little secrets and she wasn't a part of it. That's the reason she had her secrets with Luna and Neville, well at least she tried to have secrets but obviously the others told them everything.

Ginny went to look for Neville, while Luna had a course in "Magic creatures". She entered his room without knocking and caught him hiding another letter from her.

"Seriously, who are you writing to?" she asked and went over to grab the letter.

"To no one, really" he answered and tried to keep it from her.

"Oh come on, since when do you have secrets?"

She reached the letter and stood out of Neville's' reach.

"Come on, Gin, it's nothing, really" he said and tried to get it back.

She looked at the envelope and tried to decode Neville's handwriting. What she read made her heart ache. "_Harry Potter_" was written on it.

"Wow, actually I thought you'd write a girl…" she said jokingly. "But really, why would you make such a secret out of this?"

"I just… I didn't want to upset you" he said guiltily. But he didn't look her in the eye.

"What is with everybody lately?" she asked him. She remembered how he defended Harry and her brothers when they met them at the lake. "Why is everybody so secretively?"

"It's… It's difficult and I promised" he said sadly. He didn't even deny it, but obviously he wouldn't tell her anything.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know anything again…?" she asked angry.

"No, Luna doesn't know anything either… Neither do I know everything… I just-" he stopped himself "Really, Ginny, don't make me break my promise"

"Alright…" she sighed. She wouldn't ask him further… BUT she would try to break into his room later to find out what was going on.

"I have to go to class…" he said quickly and got up. Ginny tried to see if he put it in his pocket or if he'd let it in his room. He left it in his room.

Ginny came back later and was glad that Neville always forgets to lock his door magically.

"Accio letter to Harry" she whispered and the letter landed in her hands. She opened it and read the half-finished letter:

_Dear Harry,_

_I have to admit, I told her to. I'm not even sorry for that because I can't keep seeing her sad because of this. And I hope you respect that._

_About the other thing: Well, I didn't see him or anything related to him here. The last time was really at that party and I'm glad Ginny and Luna didn't recognise him. You were right after all._

_I'll protect her as well as I can and I agree in your plan but just as long as you won't interfere in her life! I hope she doesn't find out, she's suspicious and she knows that there's something going on but just imagine she found out that you guys are after-_

The letter ended there and Ginny's heart pounded. She couldn't think, she just found out something huge and as soon as she put the letter back where it was, she made her way back at her room. What were they about to do? And what did Neville mean with _just as long as you won't interfere in her life_? Where they talking about her…?

She sat down on her bed and tried to breathe… Since she left things just got worse. What was happening?


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello again, thank you for keeping up with my lazy arse but I promise this one's worth your while if you were waiting for some serious Ginny-Harry-scenes. Please Rate and Review. Pretty please xoxo EmbraceYourSun_

It was a week after Chris asked her when she finally gave in and decided a time and place for their date. He was excited and promised her she would not regret it.

The evening of their first day was eventful and Ginny really enjoyed it. She could imagine spending more time with him. He was nice and sweet and hot as hell and though her heart didn't beat faster every time she thought about him or he held her hand, she convinced herself that time would make it happen anyway…

She didn't want to rush anything and Chris respected it. He once asked her (after a few dates they had) about her past and her relationship with Harry.

"Me and Harry? No… No… We're just… no, not even friends… Let's say, he's my brother's best friend"

He never asked again. It seemed like she had convinced him… At least one of them, she thought.

Since then Chris and Ginny went on many dates. But she preferred to keep it down with him and said she wanted to take this slow… He accepted it and things were great between them.

After a month, it seemed like a year, Ginny decided to take a few days off (she didn't have courses for a week) and to go back to the Burrow.

She apparated into the kitchen and since it was rather a spontaneous decision she wasn't too surprised to find it empty. No pan or clothes magically flew across the room therefore she knew her mother must've been somewhere. Maybe, since all of her kids were living alone or spent most of their day at work, she visited friends or family somewhere.

Still Ginny didn't want to risk it so she stepped to the stairs and called for her mother.

"Mum?" she called and waited a few seconds "Hello?"

She heard something move and wasn't too sure if it was just the ghoul in the attic or if someone was actually in the house. She looked up and waited for a redhead to appear but turned around when nothing happened. She almost jumped at the view in front of her. Not even a step away from her stood a half surprised half grinning Harry.

"Hello Ginny" he said. Her name in his mouth sounded like music and Ginny forgot for a moment why she was standing in front of him.

"Geez, Harry you scared me"

"I was only getting you back since you appeared out of nowhere" he laughed. The stood across from each other not close enough to touch but not apart enough to feeling the tension but managed to hug each other awkwardly.

"I missed you, you know" she said as they stepped away after a long hug. Longer than usual, she thought.

"Yeah, me too… Your parents won't be back until tonight and Ron is at work and I think he has plans with Hermione afterwards…" he told her. He was talking so fast that she could hardly keep up.

"Well, I guess you have to keep me company" she winked. What was she doing? Flirting with Harry?

"I guess I'm all you're getting today" he said cockily. Oh my god, he was flirting too!

Ginny was happy that he was still staying at the Burrow and more happy to have him all by herself for an entire day.

"Well, Harry Potter, what were you up to?" she asked while they sat down at a sofa in the living room.

"Just some paper work, nothing interesting" he answered "But forget that, how was your journey- and I'm sorry that we showed up, really- and how is the university?"

"Well it was fun. Nothing bad happened so you were worried for no apparent reason" she mocked him.

He smiled. "Actually… You know I called you stupid and stuff… I didn't mean to insult you…"

Saying sorry was obviously really hard for him and she could've ended his misery with a quick "It's okay, really" but Ginny wanted to hear more. She thought that she deserved it.

"I-I I was overprotective, I suppose and forgot what a brilliant witch you are, since I've seen you hex some guys and you know…"

Ginny blushed. Okay, that was enough… For now!

"It's okay, Harry. Apology accepted!"

They stared at each other for a moment and it seemed that no one was even breathing. This moment only belonged to her and Harry. Ginny swore to treasure it when this was all she could get from him. It would be something she could dream about.

All of a sudden he came closer and Ginny knew what was going to happen next if she would close the space between them. She really wanted to but in that exact moment she thought about Chris too and how this wouldn't be fair to him so she escaped this situation by looking away. Harry stopped.

"How about some tea?" she asked and got up. Her heart raced and she cursed her conscience for wanting her to be a good person at such a moment. She went into the kitchen and wave around with her wand when she heard him enter behind her.

He sat at the kitchen table and watched her move around in the kitchen. As soon as she was done she took the cups and sat down across from him. He took his cup and poured some spoons of sugar in it. When wanted to reach for it, he just poured her 3 spoons. How did he know that she liked it that way?

"How-"

"Is this wrong? I'm sorry, I shouldn't-" he said quickly, an apologetic look on his face.

"No, no, no it's fine… But how did you know…?" she said "Wow…"

He looked at her somehow confused.

"Well you're the first one to ever…" she said and tapped her forehead.

"Are you really that surprised?" he asked and took a sip.

"Yeah, I mean it's not like we talk that much, are we?"

There was an accusation in it and she saw it hit him hard. She had hurt him with that, but it was the truth.

"No, you're right…" he scratched his head and looked at his cup "But… We have the house for ourselves, plenty of time and we could catch up on everything couldn't we?"

Why not, she thought. It couldn't be such a bad idea, could it?

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I could think of a few things…" he said mischievous.

Ginny didn't know what she expected but sitting in Ron's room and playing cards hasn't been it, though it was fun to play, because he lost every time.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" she asked after he lost another game.

"No, I just really suck at this game"

"Then why did you suggest it in the first place?"

"I couldn't come up with anything better" he laughed embarrassed. Silence followed.

"Harry? I… I wanted to ask you since forever… But never mind" She looked away. That was something she wasn't supposed to know, wasn't it?

"You can ask me anything" he assured her.

"I just… wanted to know" she started "What were you guys doing the year you were away?"

Harry looked at some far away spot as if he was lost in his memories. He shook his head and told her everything what happened after they were attacked by Death Eaters at Fleur and Bill's wedding.

Ginny remembered that day.

_She wore a beautiful golden dress which made her speechless whenever she saw a reflection of herself. She almost looked as stunning as Fleur's sister Gabrielle, but well of course she was somewhat a Veela so no one was competition for her. _

_Ginny was looking forward to that wedding since Fleur promised her to be a bridesmaid. She went downstairs to look for Hermione, Ron and Harry who had been more mysterious than ever those past weeks but was always stopped by some relatives who wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked or some close friends of the family who wanted to introduce her to whomever._

_When she finally escaped them, she found herself close to the Trio. They were somewhat hiding behind the tent, were the wedding was taking place, and discussed something. Though Ginny knew it wasn't right to listen to someone's conversation- and this was even a private one- she couldn't help it._

_She always imagined being a part of the team. Being in the D.A. helped a lot but she wanted more._

"… _And then we have to go" she heard Hermione say when she was close enough._

"_Can we at least say goodbye to-" started Ron but was interrupted by Hermione._

"_No! Ron, we already discussed this! They can't find out, especially not your mother"_

"_We will explain everything when we're coming back home" Harry tried to cheer him up._

"_IF we ever come home"_

_Ginny held her breath. What? She felt sick to her stomach as soon as his words reached her. What on earth were they going to do again? It wasn't something new, that they went on adventures and faced the hardest tasks but they never talked about "ifs"…_

_She didn't want to hear anything else and made her way back to the house. Not today, she thought, today she wouldn't be thinking about it. They wouldn't leave until the end of summer anyway. At least that's what she was hoping._

_They followed soon after and made the happiest faces they could come up with. Ron walked over to Fred and George and helped them guide the guests to their seats. Harry stood at the entrance and Ginny took this chance to finally talk to him._

"_Mr Potter, you look slightly handsome today" she said and giggled when she saw she had caught him off guards._

"_T-thanks" he stuttered "And you… Wow you look amazing, Ginny"_

_Ginny nodded and walked past him but not without a quick wink and a mouthed "I know"_

_She took her position and waited for the ceremony to start. When she heard the music start she walked behind Gabrielle and looked around the tent to see familiar faces. She saw her brothers and Hermione holding their thumbs up (Fred making faces at her, she almost started to laugh out loud), some uncle or whatever who was looking at her with lustful eyes (she quickly looked away) and of course those beautiful, breath-taking emerald green eyes._

_She was actually quite surprised to see him looking straight at her. She expected him to be looking at Gabrielle or waiting for the bride like the others after they saw them coming in. But there he sat staring at her like nothing else in the world mattered and there Ginny walked like there were only the two of them._

_She wondered what he was thinking in that moment. Maybe they would never see each other again. Maybe they would but he would have someone and she would have someone, too. But this moment was theirs and nothing else mattered._

_After the ceremony Fleur and Bill were introduced as Mr and Mrs Weasley and the tables were put aside so everybody could dance. Ginny found herself dancing with Fred and George who managed to twirl her around until she was feeling giddy and let her walk into people. Bill and her father danced with her and even Neville and Luna managed to make her dance. _

_As soon as she was thirsty she sat down at a lonely table in a dark corner of the tent looking for Ron, Hermione and Harry. She found Ron and Hermione dancing and saw the blushing on their faces. She smiled to herself because she had talked to Hermione about the possibility which she was negotiating._

"_I wonder how long it'll take for them to get together" she heard Harry's voice say. She looked in the direction of where the voice came from but couldn't see anybody. _

"_Harry?" she asked into the darkness. She felt stupid because if she had only imagined him speaking she would be sure she'd gone mental. _

"_Yeah" he answered and put down his invisible cloak. He had a big smile on his face. _

"_Geez, why did you use this for?" she asked and took a sip of her glass._

"_Escaping your aunt Muriel" he stated and grabbed Ginny's glass. Ginny blushed when he took a sip as if that was not a big deal at all._

"_Mhhm what is this and where can I get more of that?" he asked her and gave her glass back._

"_I'll get you some" _

_She wanted to get up but he grabbed her arm and led her to the dancefloor. He put his arms around her waist and started moving slowly to the music._

"_Did I already tell you, you look beautiful tonight, Ginny" he said after a short while. Ginny didn't have the courage to look up. She just nodded and stared at their feet._

_They danced a little while when she felt him taking one hand away and placing it at her jaw. He made her look at him and for a brief moment Ginny thought he would kiss her._

_She looked into his eyes and tried to put as much affection in them as possible. They moved closer and closer. She closed her eyes._

"_Ginny, I-"_

_Suddenly everything happened at once. A Patronus landed in the middle of the tent and they heard the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt stating that the Ministry had fallen and that Death Eaters would be coming. People started to disapparate in panic while Death Eaters arrived at the Burrow and soon Ginny found herself battling against them next to Harry, Luna and other D.A. members as well as the present members of the Order._

_She was concentrated in fending off Killing Curses but heard Hermione crying for Harry. She turned around but all that she could see was Harry looking one last time at her and disapparating along with Hermione and Ron._

_That was the last thing they heard from the Trio until a few months later Ron returned exhausted and underfed. But he didn't want to talk about it nor did Ginny have the opportunity to ask since she had to go to school and to fight the Carrows along with Luna, Neville and the rest of the D.A._

Sometimes she thought about what would've happened if they weren't interrupted by Death Eaters. And sometimes she asked herself why they never got close again.

Well of course after the war everything they did was grieving over the ones that left their lives. And after that she returned to Hogwarts, Harry started his Auror training. Somewhere they lost it, she thought.

"…And then I went into the forest to let him kill me…"

She couldn't breathe. She had seen him lying there in Hagrid's arms and she had thought for a moment that he was dead, that all hope was gone and that Voldemort won. All the memories came back at once.

But now imagining the three always facing danger looking for Horcruxes. Ginny couldn't believe what they had been through even before they arrived in Hogwarts. Well she heard about certain things but she thought that were only rumours. But the real story was twice as much as she expected.

It wasn't until he grabbed her hands and looked at her concerned that Ginny noticed that she was crying. Tears were just falling down her cheeks and she couldn't stop them. Tears of sorrow for everyone who'd lost their life and tears of joy that finally everything was over and that they hopefully never had to face something like that again.

"It's okay, Ginny" Harry tried to calm her down "Everything's okay"

"No… It's just… I'm sorry I couldn't help you more and I'm sorry you had to face all these things"

"I wouldn't want it any other way" he said and looked at her sincerely "To know that you're okay, that you can travel around safe is making it all worth it"

There it was again: Harry Potter playing it all down. As if it was nothing at all. But Ginny somehow understood why he was the way he was. Why he still hasn't moved out yet and why he was always concerned always trying to look after everyone. He couldn't help it, it was just something he had always done and he wouldn't stop. That must've been the reason he wrote that letter to Neville. He was concerned about her.

"I understand a lot of thing now" she mumbled to herself. Harry looked puzzled.

"You understand a lot about what?"

"About you"

"Me?" he sounded surprised.

"Yes… Why you do certain things. Why you were so scared when we told you we were going to travel like muggles. Why you were following us" she hesitated a moment but then she added: "And why you wrote letters to Neville to tell you about the people we were meeting"

Harry was shocked for a moment. He let the information sink but as soon as he realized what she just said he became somewhat upset.

"Actually, no I don't think you get why I do certain things" he said.

Ginny was surprised. She thought she had finally figured everything out but apparently she was dead wrong.

"That wasn't the reason…?"

"No it wasn't" he got up and turned his back to her. It was silent in the little room. How could the wind change so fast?

She heard him breath heavily as if he was fighting with himself but he turned around and forced her to look at him.

"Maybe I should've let you in this believe, that I'm somehow a knight in shining armour. Maybe you would stop be so suspicious. But I can't" he almost shouted. He started pacing around in the room. "I tried to fight it, I really did. And I tried to play it cool"

It was almost as if he was talking to himself.

"I- I don't understand…" Ginny said. Was he going mental?

"There's something I want you to know but somehow every time I try to get close to you, something comes up" he said. Ginny got up. No, this couldn't be happening.

"Can't we… Can't we just not-" she tried to stop him but he looked so determined that she knew every attempt to try and stop him wouldn't work "Wow, what a lovely day, let's just go outside…?

"Why are you always trying to get away from me?"

She looked away. This wasn't happening, was it?

"I'm not…" she said and forced herself to look at him.

"Oh, come on who are you kidding?" Harry almost shouted.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Ginny responded, now angry.

"I just, I'm trying to get along with you, Ginny, but you just won't let me and it's frustrating me!" he cried out.

It was silent again. Neither of them was moving but Ginny knew she was trapped. There was no going out and somehow she didn't want to.

"Can I… Can I ask you something? I know that we weren't exactly friends in the past, but you really helped me in a time when I needed someone who wouldn't just pity me…" he stopped and looked at her for a brief moment. "I don't know if you remember this but it was a few days after Sirius' death… We were walking the grounds of Hogwarts and you showed me this beautiful place…"

He wanted to know if she remembered that day? That day that was supposed to change everything for her? The day she wanted to move on? Why would he come up with that now? He moved closer.

"You talked sense into me that day… I guess nobody actually tried to but you stood there and opened my eyes… And I guess I never really thanked you for that"

Harry took Ginny's hands and pulled her closer to him.

"Thank you, Ginny" he smiled.

It brought tears to her eyes. She didn't want to feel all this affection, all this sorrow because he would never see her that way. Not now that she was with Chris and that she forced herself to move on, yes, to even move away from him.

"Yeah… You're welcome… I guess" she answered and looked away. Harry sighed and moved. When she looked back at him he was only a few inches away from her, looking with an intensity she had only seen once at the wedding. His beautiful, magical green eyes. No! She had to focus.

"Ginny, I…" he started but Ginny looked at him in shock and tried to get herself out of his reach. He kept on holding on.

"No, I can't let you go just now. Not until I said what I want you to know" he said almost angry.

"I love you!"

There it was. He couldn't take it back nor did he want to. However Ginny tried to save the situation.

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad we're as close as siblings" She patted his shoulder. She had to say it because otherwise she would've just make her hopes up and get disappointed again.

"I don't love you like a sister! I love you like a man can only love one woman" he made a break to seek an answer in Ginny's eyes. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize, but I do love you"

Still no answer.

"And I hope that you feel at least something for me too…?"

It was a question and he clearly waited for an answer. He was kidding her, right? After all this time, after all these years she was hopelessly in love with him- and she was sure he had known it- when she finally moved on, when she finally met someone she thought she could love one day he made a confession.

A few years ago, even a few months ago she would have jumped into his arms but now everything was different. Ginny became upset. She looked at him and saw him half hopeful half scared looking back.

"Harry…" she began and he squeezed her hands and smiled "Harry, what…"

She took her hands out of his grip and crossed them before her chest.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

His smile disappeared immediately.

"No, no… NO! You can't just ruin everything… Why would you do that?" she asked in desperation.

That was clearly not the answer he was hoping for.

"What are you thinking is going to happen next? I'll throw myself onto you and then-"

"No, I… I don't know what I was hoping for… I just-"

"Needed me to know?" she shouted in anger "Yeah, Harry, now I know… Why are you doing this to me?"

"I love you, Ginny. After all this time I figured out. I lied to myself, tried to tell me you're just a friend, like a sister. But you're not"

"Don't do this now" she turned around and looked the other way. She couldn't think. Her heart was racing and everything screamed at her to jump into his arms, every door she closed, every feeling she buried just appeared again and she wanted to be with him as badly as ever.

"I have to. I just have to let you know how I feel"

"Yeah? Well thank you… You knew I loved you forever and I always hoped for this day to come… But not like this… Not now!"

"Because of this Chris guy you're seeing?" he asked slightly hurt. Now Ginny was sorry, she didn't want to upset him. But he had to know that it was too late. "I don't care about him!"

"How could you-" she started but was interrupted when Harry grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. He closed the gap between them in a second and pressed him against her. His lips met hers and nothing else mattered anymore.

He kissed her with a hunger she didn't expect. And she kissed him back. Taking in his scent, the feeling of his lips against hers, his hair she caressed with her hands, the noise he made when she sucked on his bottom lip. Years of dreaming about it couldn't prepare her for this moment. It was magical. Everything was Harry and nothing else in the world was important.

Harry paused when he had to breathe but rested his forehead against hers. Ginny was afraid he could hear her heart beating. Blood was rushing through her veins and she breathed heavily. He looked up and the fact that she was blushing made him smile.

"What have you done…" she said but didn't move.

"What I've been longing to do for a long time now. And I don't regret it"

They stayed silent for a moment until Harry finally released her and let her get as far away from him as the little room let her.

"This is bad" she mumbled to herself. Suddenly she felt guilty, as if she had betrayed Chris.

Harry leaned against the wall and crossed his arms before his chest.

"Tell me this meant nothing to you. Tell me you love Chris and I'll leave you" he looked at her sincere and Ginny could bet on his words.

She wanted to tell him that it meant nothing and that she loved Chris, but she just couldn't. It would be a lie and at least she had to be true to herself. She had lied long enough.

"I knew it" he said with satisfaction. "And I won't give up on you. As long as I know that you still care for me, that your heart doesn't belong to anyone else I promise you, Ginny, I won't give up on you"

Ginny didn't know what to reply. She was somehow flattered by his speech but in the same moment scared what this could mean.

Suddenly everything made sense to her and it scared her how deep his affection for her was. All the little things he'd done, every time he blushed, he didn't know how to talk to her, what Luna meant in the train, the letters, his concern. Everything was making sense. He loved her and knowing that made Ginny feel ashamed.

She felt like she had ignored it or she didn't notice it just because she thought Harry could never look at someone like her. How wrong she had been. It was there all along at the wedding, in the last days at the Burrow and even in the letters he wrote to Neville. She had already known it but the thought of it being a sign of affection scared her and she tried to make every possible other explanation but not the most obvious…

_I won't give up on you. _It echoed in her head and her heart started beating even faster. If that was possible. Nobody ever made her feel like that and it scared her. She felt the urge to get away from him. To tell herself that this must've been a dream or he must've been mistaken.

But she saw him standing across from her in the room. The words were flying in the room and Ginny thought about responding with "I love you, too" but as soon as she opened her mouth she heard her mother downstairs.

"I'm back, Harry dear"

Well this had to wait, she thought as she and Harry made their way downstairs.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello Hello Hello! T's been awhile but here I have something for you guys. I hope you're ready for some drama and a piece of Harry's mind? Please keep up with me xoxo EmbraceYourSun_

It was very quiet that evening in the Burrow. Ginny's mom and dad sat across from each other exchanging looks of questions nobody asked. Ron was sleeping at Hermione's and that left only Ginny and Harry at the Burrow.

As soon as Mrs Weasley returned from visiting

"So… Ginny, you didn't tell anything about the university yet" Mr Weasley tried to start a conversation.

"It's great…"

"And how are your courses?"

"Good"

It was unusual for Ginny to be this silent. Unless something had happened, she nearly never shuts up. But Harry too was silent and looked up sometimes to look at Ginny, but as soon as he felt caught, he looked down again. Something had happened this afternoon and it seemed like they had to solve some issues. Her parents exchanged looks again and decided to finish lunch and to leave the kitchen as soon as possible.

"Well, Ginny, I hope you don't mind doing the dishes with Harry. I have to go write a letter to Bill and your father is tired from working" Mrs Weasley announced as soon as they finished eating. Mr Weasley yawned as if to show how tired he was.

They didn't even wait for an answer; they got up and left Ginny and Harry alone in the kitchen. Harry got up immediately and put the plates into the sink.

"I'll never get used to that" Ginny said as she watched him pouring water of them.

"What?" he said and turned around to face her. "Did you say something?"

"No… Yes… Just that I'll never get used to you washing dishes by hand" she stuttered and looked at her feet.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad at all, you see" he said and turned back to the sink. Ginny looked at his figure. His shoulders were very muscular and he looked like a grown man in his shirt. Her heart pounded and she remembered the moment in Ron's room when she was pressed against him and their lips met and she caressed his hair with her fingers. The feeling of his tongue playing around hers and the hunger for more she felt in her stomach. Her knees felt easy at the memory and she grabbed the table before she would faint.

It wasn't until he held her by her arm when she noticed he was looking at her concerned.

"Are you okay, Ginny? Should I call your parents?" he asked hectically.

Ginny didn't know what she was thinking, maybe she wasn't thinking at all but she grabbed his face and pressed her lips against his. Millions of electric shockwaves ran through her body and she kissed him with passion this time not caring about her parents who could maybe enter every moment.

And Harry kissed her back, he grabbed her cheek and pulled her closer only separating their mouths to take a breath but his hands wandered up to her hair and her neck and he deepened the kiss and their tongues played around again. Ginny let her hands wander down his shoulders and his chest and the feeling of his heart beating as hard as hers against his chest released thousands of butterflies.

The kiss ended too soon and she had to face reality again. They were still standing close, their hearts beating fast and their breathing heavy. But she knew he would ask her. She knew she had to explain herself. They separated and went back to washing dishes and Ginny was surprised to see that he didn't ask at all. She still felt the need to explain herself.

"Harry, I'm sorry" she said quietly.

"Sorry for what?" he asked with a grin. Ginny knew that he was doing this on purpose but she didn't deserve it any other way.

"I shouldn't have kissed you… That came out of nowhere… Again" she tried to explain. Harry laughed hard and it made her nervous. Would he be mad at her now? But what bothered her more was why would she care so much if he was angry?

"It's not fair…" he started "You know, I guess I deserve some kind of hell from you considering how I treated you all this time… But it's not fair. I don't want you to apologize to me for kissing me… I want you and me to be able to kiss each other whenever we feel like doing so"

"I don't think we…" she tried to say but he pressed his lips against hers. Ginny stepped away from him. "Harry, stop it!"

Harry looked at her. He was hurt. She could see it in his eyes. But the boy-who-lived should grow up. He couldn't just walk into the room and get whatever he wanted to.

"This is a mistake and you know that I can't just-"

"But you kissed me first… You…" Harry interrupted her.

She knew he was right and she had to make it right.

"Harry, I'm sorry I shouldn't have done it… And I think I just lost it somehow and for a moment… But I'm with Chris now"

"But I told you, Ginny" he whispered.

"Yes" she breathed.

"And I mean it"

"Yes"

He went closer again. Ginny wanted to get away from him again but he laughed hard and said he wouldn't kiss her against her will again. She waited for what he was going to do and he grabbed her hands, looked into her eyes for a brief moment and hugged her.

Harry caressed her hair and whispered to himself. Ginny wanted this moment to last forever and as he let go, she felt she lost something she actually never had.

"We should pretend this never happened" Harry said suddenly.

Though Ginny didn't want to, she agreed. It was for the best and she knew it. Ron would freak out if he knew and he was like a brother to Harry.

"Let's stay friends" she said and offered her hand. He grabbed it after a moment of hesitation as if he wasn't really okay with this but had no choice. Just like Ginny herself.

Friends that's all they'd have to stay…

The days passed by and Harry and Ginny only discussed as little as necessary to keep up their masquerade. Though Mrs and Mr Weasley felt like there must've been something up they didn't ask.

This night, Harry lied awake in his bed in Ron's room. He knew that Ginny was just a few rooms away and he could easily slip into his invisibly cloak and watch her sleep. As creepy as that sounded even to himself he couldn't help but think about those nights he thought about Ginny.

All he could do, all he felt like doing was thinking about Ginny kissing him. Her body against his. Her hands stroking his hair. Her mouth perfectly matching his.

But why did she not want to be with him? He knew that she had feelings for him and to be honest he thought that offering him to her would've made her the happiest girl on earth. Well after he heard from Neville about this guy they've met and now knowing that he was even at the same university as her made him crazy. Jealous!

Harry had denied his feelings for Ginny all this time. Mostly for Ron's sake, since he was her brother and the best friend's sister was never an option. But she had grown to be a beautiful, intelligent, funny young woman and selfishly he thought that he could be near her.

Just as friends of course. He went to her for advice and caught himself listening to her conversations with Hermione, silently smiling to himself about her cuteness. Ron would give him strange looks and that was the moment he stopped this, as he called it, madness.

And the night she gave him a piece of her mind changed a lot. He finally admitted his feelings for her and cursed himself for not letting himself see it clear before. The moment they walked back to the castle and they were about to enter it, he was ready to tell her how he felt. But Hermione and Ron were waiting for him and things with Cho weren't resolved yet. Unfortunately the next time he saw her, she was with Dean Thomas and Harry had no chance to make things right.

After Dumbledore's funeral things got worse. Ginny had comforted him like nobody else could but she was still Dean's girlfriend (though they broke up a few days later) and since he wouldn't be returning for his 7th year, Harry wanted to keep her safe.

That didn't last long though, at Fleur's and Bill's wedding he couldn't stop himself and they were about to kiss as he was remembered why he had to stay away from the ones he loved. Everyone he loved got killed and Ginny should be able to live happily.

He only heard about a few incidents in which she was revolved and coming back to Hogwarts, to see her living and being well was the best thing about this whole damn thing.

He had heard her argue with her mother, whether she should stay in the Room of Requirements or if she could join the battle and his heart screamed to him, to finally tell her how he felt. Instead he shook his head as she turned to him for help but joined the battle anyway.

The last time he saw her -at least Harry thought it would be the last time he would see her- he passed her by on his way to the forest. She was comforting a young boy who, instead of going home, stayed to fight his battle. He listened to her words as if she was talking to him and wondered, if she would try to hold him back if he showed herself to him just now.

He passed her by and inhaled her scent, this wonderful flowery scent of hers that remembered him of spring and a potion they once brew but couldn't remember which one it was.

And even the last thing in the forest he thought about her. That was how much he truly loved her. He thought about her 10 year old self at King's Cross, her 11 year old self in the burrow the morning he came with Ron and how red she went. But also the night he found her in the Chamber of Secrets, so cold and he was scared to lose her. He remembered her 13 year old self turning him down to keep a promise, how cute she was in her dress at the Yule ball and how much he adored her Valentine's Day surprise. Of course he thought about her 14 year old self fighting next to him against Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic and her determined 14 year old self that made him realize what a douche he had been the whole year. The moment he fell in love with her at that very day. Her 15 year old self being next to Dean and the shivers of jealousy he endured while watching her from a distance. How he changed his most precious thought for making a Patronus from the one with his parents to the moment Ginny and him were in the Room of Requirements to get rid of the Half-blood prince's book how her hand stroke his as he took the book out of his hand and she whispered "Close your eyes… Don't you trust me" and how he felt his heart beat fast as she leaned closer and closer, again the flowery scent of hers, and a whispered "Harry" before she was gone. And all those nights he spent at the Burrow, on the roof with her talking about this and that the summer before he left, a 16 year old Ginny Weasley growing more beautiful with every year at the wedding in a beautiful dress and their almost kiss on the dance floor moments before he left.

Harry couldn't help but remember this and wondering if Ginny would lie in bed, thinking about him too. Little did he know that at that very moment Ginny was considering breaking up with Chris to be with Harry. She knew she didn't love Chris enough to choose him over Harry. But this wouldn't be fair though.

It was the third night, since she had kissed Harry spontaneous that she thought maybe it was better to break things up with Chris. But on the other hand, she would never have the courage to try it with Harry. What if he changed his mind again? Though he told her that he loved her, what if he was mistaken?

Ginny remembered when Harry was with Cho. She was sad about Cedric but everybody knew that she really liked him though. And though it broke Ginny's heart, she was happy that he had seemed to find somebody. Why couldn't he be happy for her? Didn't he love her enough? Well that would bring up more questions than answer any of the aforementioned.

Ginny sighed and got up. She opened the door and went to Fred and George old bedroom. The "keep out or else" sign on the door was faded and as she opened the door she almost expected Fred or George to appear next to her and say "What are you thinking you're doing". But nothing happened. Just complete silence. Ginny went over to Fred's bed and put the boxes down. She sat down and looked around the abandoned room and tried to remember how it had looked like before. She laid down on Fred's pillow and could smell a hint of him. Her eyes filled with tears and she tried to sob as silent as possible over her dead brother.

Suddenly she felt guilty. All she was thinking about was her problems with Harry and she forgot about Fred. She even forgot about George and how she had promised herself that she would never let him down.

Ginny couldn't help but let the tears fall and she knew she was beginning to be louder when she bit into his pillow and tried to brace herself. That was when she felt somebody grabbing her and without a second thought she buried her face into that someone's chest.

She thought it must've been her father, who was woken up by her and tried to comfort her. But the scent of that someone wasn't her fathers. It was Harry's. He lifted her up and carried her back into her room, tucking her blanket over her and tried to get up. Selfishly Ginny grabbed his arm before he could leave and made space so he would lie next to her.

He hesitated for a moment, maybe he knew what kind of danger this situation could bring along, but in the end he lied down and let Ginny place her head on his chest. She listened to his heartbeat racing and the steady sound comforted her more than she thought and it wasn't long before she finally fell asleep. As did Harry, who wasn't sure if he should've let her do it or not. But they wanted to stay friends and friends comfort each other no matter how, right?


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: Hello friends, it had been a rough couple of months and many things changed at once in my life. I started studying and things started to get stressful but Ginny and Harry always were on my mind. I found it a little hard to get on with this story since I felt like there are a few things I had to bring up before things can get the way I planned it but I'm doing progress. As for now I'm going to upload the next two chapters of Ginny's journey and hopefully it'll keep you interested in what could maybe happen here ;) I also planned a little Christmas chapter and will hopefully upload it soon. Thanks for your reviews they really keep me inspired. Love, embraceYourSun_

* * *

><p>Both, Harry and Ginny ignored the events of the last days and with that her short visit came to an end. She was looking forward to return to her dorm, away from Harry and was still deciding if she would tell anyone what had happened between herself and Harry.<p>

She apparated into her dorm and needed a minute to orientate before she caught Luna sleeping in her bed. Apparently she didn't wake up and so Ginny made her way out of the dorm but not without putting a blanket on Luna.

On her way through the corridors she was rather unsure if she should be honest with Chris and tell him that she had kissed another guy. But thinking about it, Ginny did not really miss Chris at all. When Ginny was with Dean, she had kind of missed him all summer, but with Chris…

Maybe everything was still fresh and not too serious with him and therefore she was not sure if she should trust her feelings or stay on the easy road with Chris.

Suddenly someone had his hands around her waist and pulled her into a room, just to press their lips onto hers.

"Chris!" Ginny giggled as they separated to let her catch her breath.

"I missed you" Chris whispered while he grabbed Ginny's hair. "The smell of your hair…. God you are so beautiful"

Ginny felt a little uncomfortable but also flattered that he was falling for her. But she was not quite as falling for him as he apparently was.

"Chris… I…" Ginny started and wanted to tell him what had happened. But looking into Chris' eyes, the poor innocent guy that gave her all the attention and love she wanted, Ginny just couldn't do it.

"I missed you too" she said and kissed him, secretly hating herself for the obvious lie.

It was easier to be with Chris. This relationship was easy and however she imagined her relationships should be.

It was kind of like the relationship she and Dean had, but Dean wanted more and she couldn't give him more. Both agreed on breaking up and Dean found himself another girl, who was giving him her all.

Ginny wished to be able to give all her heart to someone like Chris. But for now he was okay with that.

"So tell me, Ginny, how was it at home?"

Ginny panicked for a second. Did he know what happened? No, how could he.

"It was great seeing my family. I didn't get to see my brother, though…" Ginny said trailing off to the night she went into Fred and George's room.

Ginny blushed reminding herself that she had spent the night closer to Harry as she ever had been with… anyone. Reminding herself of the little clothes they were wearing and their heartbeat being fast and uneven, as well as their breaths. The moonlight lit her room in silver light and she could see their silhouettes move.

As if she was sleeping but she could hardly move and though he tried his best, harry couldn't stop his fast heartbeat nor his hands from holding her close to him. He didn't sleep as well.

"But you tell me… What did you do the whole time I've been away" Ginny changed the subject.

Chris told her about his week and Ginny was only half-listening while they wandered around the grounds.

"… Don't you think?" Chris said and looked at Ginny. She didn't answer and only realized that Chris must've said something as she found herself walking in front of him.

"What… did you say something?" Ginny asked as she returned to his side.

"Did you even listen to what I told you?" Chris asked with a laugh.

"Yeah… You…"

Chris' smile disappeared as he understood that Ginny had not listened to him at all. He scratched his head and took a step back.

"Really… I mean really? I know you are kind of private and all but you are much more… did something happen back home?"

"Come on…" Ginny said, stepping close and going in for the kiss. Chris grabbed her hands which she wanted to put around his neck.

"No, you always do that and I'm usually okay with that, but not right now…"

Ginny stepped back. Never did anyone see past her tricks, no one but Chris.

"I mean, come on, you never want to talk about your friend Harry Potter. Whenever I mention him you try and change the subject. I'm not an idiot, Ginny, even if I might seem like one to you…"

"I never thought you-" Ginny tried.

"Come on, this is not going to be a discussion about that. There's an elephant in the room!"

Chris was now almost yelling at her. Ginny was taken aback. She did not expect that.

"Are you looking for a reason to start a fight right now?"

"I don't look for reasons…" Chris started but looking around he saw that a couple of students were watching them. He grabbed Ginny's arm and took her into an empty classroom.

"Listen Ginny, do you even want to be with me? I mean you know that I like you and I know that I do… But do you?"

That was the moment Ginny could've ended this or commit to him. Ginny thought for a moment.

"Look, I can understand it. I think we've all been there… Being in love with someone who isn't in love with you sucks"

Ginny thought that if only Chris knew how wrong he was, they wouldn't have this fight. Well probably they'd have a totally different kind of fight. But apparently it was time to be at least a little more honest with him.

"It's true… I was in love with Harry for so long…" Chris sighed and wanted to say something but Ginny cut him off "And yes I spent last week with him. But not the way you think right now! We can only be friends… And I'm okay with that, because I've got you…"

"Feelings like that don't just go away…" he started. He looked really hurt and she didn't know what else to say.

"Listen, I'm with you, Chris. That means that I must somehow like you"

Chris didn't laugh. But apparently he believed her.

"I might not be as into this" she pointed to herself and him "as you are right now, but I'm here"

Chris smiled half-hearted and Ginny cupped his face with her hand. Then she sighed. She needed to tell him what happened.

"But I cannot lie to you… If I want this to work, I'd have to tell you that…"

She looked at him and searched his eyes for strength to tell him what she wanted to tell him. His eyes were nothing but generous and honest.

"Harry and I kissed"

There it was. Chris didn't move and the whole room was filled with silence. She couldn't bear to look in his eyes. She expected him to be disappointed or to break up with him and that was the moment she realized that she wanted to be with him more than anything.

She took all her strength and looked up. In Chris' eyes she could see what her words had caused. He looked at her, questioning everything and let his hands sink.

"I knew something happened" he finally said. He stepped away and sat on a table, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I'm… sorry" she said quietly. She knew he would hear her.

"They're just words for you… I don't know what to say… What did you expect would happen?"

"I hoped you would understand it"

"You never tell me anything, Ginny! How am I supposed to understand you when you tell me nothing about you? You said you WERE in love with him a long time ago. You don't just kiss someone you used to be in love with…"

Ginny didn't know what to say. He was right and she knew it. And she didn't want to lie about it. How was she supposed to be able to move on (with Chris by her side) when she would build everything on a lie?

"I want this to be something real… I don't want to chase you or trap you into something… Ginny I thought you were falling for me just like I am for you…"

Ginny looked up. Did he just…?

"You're falling for me…?"

"Yeah" he answered, now embarrassed. "Yes I do… But you know what? I don't want to be the only one trying. I've been there and I don't think you have been. You are such an amazing girl…"

"Please, don't…" Ginny said and stepped closer. She now was standing in front of him. Because he was sitting on the table, Chris and Ginny were on the same level and she hoped he could see it in her eyes. See how much she really cared.

"I told you what happened because I told you, I want this to work…"

"Did you even consider telling me in the first place?" he knew the answer but he wanted her to tell him.

"I did not…" She answered truthfully "I thought we would never have this conversation. But we do now"

There was a moment of silence. Ginny knew that she was losing him and that they were going nowhere.

"I… I think we should consider a break…" Chris said after a while.

"Can't we talk about this?"

"You want to talk now? You want to talk about it! Here are the facts: I love you, you don't! I'm trying, you aren't! I'm fighting, you're running away!" Chris shouted "You want to talk about this? You kissed the love of your life, but came back here to me! You don't want to be with me and I'm sick of trying to make you…"

They looked each other in the eyes. Tears formed in Ginny's eyes and it seemed like Chris didn't want this, though he was angry. He took her hand in his and looked down on it. He sighed.

"It takes two to make it work, I tried you didn't… I guess we just need to figure out where this is heading…"

He looked at her and squeezed her hand. Then he got up the table and embraced her.

"Just make sure, that when you figured out what this is, you come find me and tell me…"

And before Ginny knew, he was gone. The tears that she held in now rolled down her cheeks and her sight blurred. The classroom became a mess of colours and she didn't know how long she stood in the middle of the room before a few bright colours such as pink, gold and blue came in sight.

Ginny knew more than she saw it, that it was Luna.

"I… I…" Ginny tried to say but couldn't.

"I know… It's okay, it'll be okay"

Never had she felt like this before. Taking a break, or rather breaking up, because that's what it felt like, never was so hard on her. She really liked Chris- still did and she knew she wanted to be with him. There was still Harry, he'd always be there, but she wanted to open her heart to Chris and the moment she was about to lose him, she finally knew what to do.

"I'll have to get him back" she said after she found her voice again. She looked up and tried to find support in her best friend's eyes. Luna was all for it as it seemed, but nobody could ever tell.

"I do like him… A lot"

"That I can tell" Luna smiled at her friend. They sat together until they became hungry. Luna even managed to make Ginny smile.

"Thank you, Luna. I honestly don't know what I would do without you…" Ginny said before they left.

"Well, I know how you can make up for it" answered Luna and opened the door. "Buy me some food and we're even"

Before Ginny stepped through the door into the bright floor, she put an arm around her best friend and laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

The weeks passed and Ginny didn't manage to make Chris talk to her again. In the first week, they only passed each other and she didn't feel like talking to him would help. The second week, she sometimes showed up when she knew Chris and Neville were hanging out. But Chris still wouldn't talk to her. The next week, Ginny didn't even try anymore. That's when Chris started to look at her and smile. He saw she was trying. And since last week, Ginny started to greet him.

"Hi" she said once again that day when she saw him pass her by. As usual he was surrounded by girls who must've heard that they both had broken up.

"Hey, Ginny" he said and smirked. That lead to earn her a few dirty looks by his fan club and she heard them mumble things like "doesn't deserve it" or "not even that pretty". But she didn't care. All that mattered was that Chris talked to her again.

She went on, not without looking back at Chris and catching him winking at her, to meet with Neville and Luna.

"You know what? I think I can talk to him soon" said Ginny when she sat down next to Luna.

She waited for an answer but nobody said something. The whole table was quiet but Neville was breathing heavily, just like they had been in a fight. Ginny looked at Luna and saw her fighting with her emotions.

"Are you… okay?" she asked them, but neither answered her. Apparently things were happening around her and she didn't even notice.

"Yeah…" Neville said and tried to smile at her. He was never a good liar and Ginny could easily tell that he was hiding something… and suddenly the letter came back to her mind. Why didn't she go after that anymore? Has she become so self-absorbed that she didn't mind anything but herself anymore?

It was the same situation as that night in Fred's room. Things were going on around her and everyone knew what happened, but Ginny didn't notice.

She wasn't sure if she should be angry at herself or her friends. Being angry at herself was something to do when she was alone but right now she decided to be angry at her friends.

"Could you- _please_ – be so kind to just once tell me what is going on?" she said, trying to control her voice.

"Never mind, it's just something between me and Neville" Luna said. She seemed pretty angry and normally Luna was someone who never showed her anger. That was odd and adding all the other strange things that had happened in the last couple of months, something was building up.

But besides not knowing what was going on- which was in fact nothing new to her; being with Fred and George and seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione always sitting together, plotting something- but Neville and Luna were supposed to have secrets WITH her and not hiding secrets from her!

"I thought we were supposed to never have secrets… I thought you would tell me everything and I could tell you everything…"

"It's not like that" said Neville "It's not OUR secret, it's something I knew and Luna found out- but we're not supposed to talk about it"

"And that's the problem here" shot Luna "I want to tell you, because you have the right to know-"

"No, we promised we wouldn't tell" Neville said quickly.

"I didn't promise that, though" said Luna but judging by Neville's look, Ginny knew she would never tell her.

"How did you find out then?" Ginny tried. But Luna didn't even look at her. It was frustrating but Ginny couldn't do anything about it and she knew it.

"Has this something to do with the letter I found in your room a couple of weeks ago?"

"Sometimes there are things that should rather not be known" Neville answered, now really angry. "And I can't believe you went through my stuff when I was gone…"

She felt embarrassed. She had no right to be angry at him because she was the one who went through his stuff because she wanted to know what was happening.

"Yes, I did and I'm sorry I did it behind your back. But honestly I feel like everybody is included in this adventure… Everyone except me"

"We are not on some adventurous trip to find the philosopher's stone or something. This is serious and really none of our business. Especially not yours!" Neville said.

These words hurt. And judging by Neville's face, they were supposed to hurt. It seemed like she was losing everyone at once… First Harry, then Chris and now Neville and Luna. Weren't they supposed to be the silver trio?

"I can't believe you… I thought we were friends!" Ginny shot now really angry.

"We are, but that doesn't mean we can't have secrets…"

"We do have more secrets than we need to have…" Luna now said "And I don't mean only Ginny, but both of you!"

"Yeah? And you don't have any secrets? That you are meeting with someone at night"

"You are what?" Ginny was furious. Neville and Luna had always been kind of private. But that hurt. While she was telling them (almost) everything, both of them kept their secrets to themselves. Or they talked and excluded her.

"Luna is meeting with someone at night… As far as I know his name is Rick or something" Neville said almost mocking. Luna shot him a dirty look and corrected it to "Rolf". Things were getting out of hand. Never before had the three of them had such a fight.

"I can't believe you right now… You are meeting someone…" she pointed at Luna and then at Neville "And you knew it…"

Ginny felt like someone punched her in the face. The only two people in the world she knew she could always tell anything to and who had promised to never have secrets. They too knew how it felt like to be excluded and now they were doing the same thing to her. Why did everyone she loved and cared about walk away from her?

"I… I can't believe I told you everything… I always did, but you stopped at some point…"

This friendship was getting to a critical point and they knew it. But Ginny couldn't let this be. How was she supposed to be okay with friends who were keeping secrets from her?

"I'm sorry… I didn't think this was a big of a deal…" said Luna "I could tell you now…"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Ginny could believe what she was hearing "That is not the problem right now… It's about the secrets between us. Or rather the secrets you both kept"

"I told you, I promised to never tall… I thought you'd understand" Neville said quietly. He understood that Ginny was angry and she had good reasons to be.

"Yeah, whatever… How about you tell me about Hannah Abbott for a change? How about you tell me about what you knew happened that night at the party? Is that part of your promise, too?"

Neville looked hurt. He had kept a few things to himself and he knew how this must've hurt.

"I think this friendship is leading nowhere" Ginny stood up "I thought we were the three who were left behind. I thought when we promised we would never leave each other behind that that was something we meant…"

"We did… We did, Ginny…" Neville tried to convince her. Luna looked shocked but couldn't say a word.

"No you did not… Why am I always the last to know, when you're always the first I tell things to?"

Ginny wiped away the tears that were running from her eyes, her face mirroring all the emotions she felt: Anger, pain, loss, loneliness and the feeling of being left alone.

"I'm really sorry, but I don't want to be the third wheel in this friendship…"

She turned around and walked away ignoring her friend's pleads that she should stay and they should talk about everything. Her ginger hair was wrapped around her face and if she would walk the halls with her head bowed, nobody would see her crying. She didn't know how and she didn't know when but suddenly she found herself in front of Chris' dorm. Without knocking she entered and saw him sitting at his desk.

His first reaction was irritation, his head snapped in the direction of the door and before he could say anything, Ginny went over to him, pulled him out of his chair and put her arms around him. She cried into his chest with him stroking her hair but not being able to make her stop.

"I'm losing everything" she managed to say after a few moments. Chris sat her down on the chair, turned it to his bed and sat across from her. He took her hand and waited for her to calm down.

"Neville, Luna and I… We aren't friends anymore" she told him.

She didn't tell him exactly what happened between the three of them, but he didn't even ask. Ginny, however, felt like it was a mistake coming to her ex-boyfriend-or-something for comfort. She suddenly got up.

"I shouldn't have come here…" she said and looked around not sure what she wanted to do.

"No, why not… I mean, it's okay" Chris said.

"We're on a break… I think we wanted to sort things out" she said, finally stopping her action and looking at him. He stood in front of her, his hands holding out for her. She took them.

"I think we sorted it out… And that you're here- to me- for comfort", he held her chin and came closer to her lips "I think that shows me everything I need to know…"

And he kissed her. Ginny's head went empty and all the pain and the fights were forgotten. This moment was infinite, nothing mind blowing but comforting and felt right. She kissed him back and was happy to have him. At least one of her problems was solved. But as they parted and she pressed her cheek against his chest, listening to the beating of her heart, she couldn't help but remember Harry's heartbeat.

She tried, she really tried as hard as she could and somehow, yes she could feel it, somehow she will be able to open her heart to let him in. He was all she had left and all that she needed.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Here we go and I hope you are ready for that! Next chapter be up tomorrow morning (my time zone) xoxo :)**_

_**Shoutout to SheridanSuzie, you really keep me going**_

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><p>After a while, Hermione asked if they could look for Luna and Neville. Though Ginny felt uncomfortable to meet them, she couldn't deny looking for them- their fight was nobody's business but theirs.<p>

"Yeah... I think they are in Neville's dorm or something…" she said and went towards the door "I'm going to look for them-"

"I'm coming with you" Hermione announced and left the room with Ginny without paying attention to Ron who was obviously not really happy about staying in the room with Ginny's boyfriend.

Ginny felt uncomfortable, knowing that Hermione would see the awkward scene when they would be meet Luna and Neville. They walked silently for a while, before Hermione stopped her.

"Will we talk about this?" she simply asked.

"About what…?" Ginny really didn't know what she meant. She started to walk down the corridor, with her friend following her.

"What is wrong with you?" Hermione looked at her friend really worried. "Why are you behaving like this?"

"Like what? I am fine, don't you see?" Ginny asked smiling. Things were hard the last couple of… well honestly she couldn't remember when things were easy. But she was doing just fine.

"Stop it. I know you, okay, you can't pretend with me…" she stopped for a moment "Do you really think I wouldn't find out what happened between Harry and you?"

"He told you?" Ginny shouted "He promised he wouldn't… Why would he tell you that we kissed?"

"So it did happen?!" Hermione squeaked happily "Oh my god"

Ginny looked around to see if somebody did hear them. Then she walked ahead of her friend and couldn't believe that she fell for Hermione's tricks.

"Wait up" Hermione shouted after her friend, trying to keep pace.

"You are the worst" Ginny said, but didn't slow down.

"Ah come on, Harry wouldn't tell me so I had to make you tell me… And you are behaving weird around us"

"Oh yeah? Well tell me how exactly I'm behaving differently" Ginny said angrily.

"Since when are you the _loving girlfriend without any contradiction_" she said. Ginny didn't expect that. How was she supposed to understand this?

"What do you mean?" she said, trying to stay calm.

"You were sitting there in your room, looking "up" to your boyfriend and patting him as if he was some kind of god…" Hermione said carefully. "I don't say that this is something bad… Just… You kind of lost your self-reliance…"

Ginny stopped immediately. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. But was it the truth? How was trying to make things work with Chris make her lose her self-reliance?

"I am just trying to make things work" Ginny said, her voice shaking with anger "How is that making me weak?"

"I didn't say it makes you weak, I didn't even say it was something bad…" Hermione touched Ginny's arm to prevent her from going away from her. "Look, it's just that… thing that happened between Harry and you… don't try to run from it"

Ginny looked at her friend. How could she be mad at her, when she was telling the truth? She wanted this relationship with Chris to work so badly, and not to forget get rid feeling guilty for "betraying" him. But was this really everything that was going on?

"Harry and I… That was a dream… Hermione, you know more than anyone else how much I loved him" Ginny said resignedly. She knew that this kisses at the Burrow were more than just the heat of the moment. Never before had she felt like she wanted more, like she wanted to go a step further.

"But we could never be together"

"Why not? What stands in the way of you two?" Hermione asked. She, like nobody else, rooted for them to be together. And she was the only one who knew both their feelings. Ginny knew that her friend would never say something if she wouldn't be certain that it was the truth.

"Because…" Ginny started but suddenly recognized something. It was the same feeling she had at that party. She looked around as if she could see someone.

"What?" Hermione asked while she tried to see what Ginny was looking for.

"Did you bring Harry along?" Ginny asked and snapped her head to her friend. How could she make her talk about him when he was listening? But that was not like Hermione, she could never do something like that.

"Who is there?" Ginny shouted through the corridor. Nobody answered.

"There is nobody there" Hermione said and looked at her friend with concern. Had she gone mad?

"Sshh" was all she got for an answer. "I know you are there! Answer me!"

Ginny ran down the corridor. She knew someone was there. There was no real explanation, but since the Chamber of Secrets a lot of things had changed. Her senses were somehow sharpened and she felt like something evil was standing close by. Or someone. Ginny grabbed her wand.

"I'm not kiding!" she looked around, then she lowered her voice "Hermione, do you know any spell to detect magic?"

It was their last hope to know if her senses weren't playing a prank on her. Hermione looked at her friend with terror. She was not kidding and Hermione decided to believe her.

"Homenum Revelio" Hermione said as she grabbed her wans faster than Ginny could've blinked.

Ginny looked around and spotted a boot disappearing around the corner.

"THERE" she shouted and ran after it. When she got around the corner, she saw a tall figure making it way towards the door. Hermione was close by.

"Mother of-" she said, but Ginny interrupted her "CATCH HIM"

They ran after the figure across the university campus, reducing the space between them, but the figure didn't let them catch him. Students who were standing around looked at the group in confusion as they ran into them and almost lost their target.

They came to a field behind the university, when Ginny was out of air and knew they would lose him. Hermione ran in front of her but the lead of the man increased.

"Oh, for god's sake" Hermione stopped. In the exact same moment she pointed her wand at his back and shouted "IMPEDIMENTA"

The figure stopped in his action and the two girls ran towards him.

"Expelliarmus" Ginny said as the man tried to discharm himself. Hermione caught the wand while Ginny tied the man up with a spell.

Hermione looked at the main front of her, while Ginny sat down on the field and tried to catch her breath.

"What. The. Hell." she managed to say between breaths.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked seriously. She was suddenly looking very intimidating and Ginny couldn't help but figuring that the fight against Voldemort had not laid off of her yet. But had it really no impact on anybody yet?

The figure did not answer, so Hermione pointed her wand at him.

"I'm giving you one last shot to answer my questions" she threatened. What would she do if he didn't speak?

"Look, if you don't know who I am, I'm going to tell you" she said as the figure still refused to talk "I am Hermione Granger, friend of Harry Potter… You may have heard some things about me"

Ginny had never heard her friend talking in this manner. This must've been a really serious thing because Hermione was not one to show off.

The man's eyes widened and he looked from Ginny to Hermione as if he was trying to see which one of them was more dangerous.

"I…" he said in a familiar voice. Where had she heard this voice before? Ginny looked at Hermione, but her friend seemed to have no clue either. "I was going to visit someone"

Hermione laughed.

"Seriously? I mean, I'm sorry but someone who is about to visit someone else does not disguise, listen to other people's conversations or run away in terror when discovered" Ginny said and shook his head.

"Should we call for someone? I could send a Patronus to Kingsley Shacklebolt, he'll be here any moment" Hermione said.

"No, please… I… I was send here by… someone" the man answered. "Look, I can't tell you more… HE told me to spy on you"

He pointed his chin to Ginny who took a step back in shock. Who would want to spy on her?

"Was this Harry's idea?" she asked totally angry. How low did he have to sink?

Hermione looked at Ginny in disbelief. It was as if she tried to tell her friend, that if she really did believe Harry would do something like that, she was more naive than this one time she believed she could trust a diary which happened to be between her books.

And Ginny knew her friend was right. He wouldn't do something like that. Well he wouldn't let a stranger spy on her that was as much as she could know for sure.

"Whose?" the man asked

"Never mind, give us some answers. Who sent you here?" Hermione was back to being serious.

"I can't tell you" he said in terror "please, I promise I won't come back here, but please, don't make me tell you"

Hermione thought for a moment. It seemed like she was going to believe that this man was more or less innocent.

"Then tell us, what did you spy on her for?" Hermione asked after a moment.

The man sighed. He knew he would not get out of this without giving some answers.

"I am a wizard… No one of importance and I am not the one you and your friends are looking for"

"That's not an answer" Hermione said impatient. She grabbed him by his collar and got really close to his face "That answered the who you are… somehow, but not the WHAT WERE YOU SPYING ON HER FOR"

"Someone told me to" he said. Hermione was even scarring Ginny now. "He told me, you were after him and that I had to find out what you were planning… I can't tell you more, please…"

"Lucky for you I don't have any Veritaserum with me" Hermione said and let go of him. He felt back on the ground and it wasn't until then when Ginny realized how much force Hermione had used. She patted her friend's back. Those times had been dark not only for Harry and her but for Hermione and maybe Ginny should've appreciated Ron or her parents more. Suddenly she thought about George, too. He hadn't just lost a brother but his best friend. How could he keep it all together?

Ginny shook her head. She had to focus.

"Who sent you?" she asked. "WHO?"

Hermione tried to stop Ginny, but she couldn't do much. Ginny was almost at him.

"And where do I know you from?!"

There was a sudden PLOP behind them the girls knew someone had apparated to the field. The man looked at the figure with terror.

"I have not said anything… Please, I didn't…"

"Silencio" the man said and silence filled the room.

Hermione was the first to turn around and by the look from what Ginny could see of her, she was shocked and as she herself turned around to face the intruder she knew why.

"Oh my god" she said with a voice filled with anger and horror "Not you…"


	11. Chapter 11

Ginny couldn't believe who was standing in front of her.

"YOU" she screamed and tried to get to him, but Hermione grabbed her friend in a second. She may have known how dangerous this man in front of them really was.

"Uh-uh-uh" he made and waved his index finger provocatively "I do like little girls who have manners but I do not like little girl getting involved in things that are none of their business"

Ginny grunted. Was he serious? He was the one who sent that man after them. She watched him carefully, trying to find out how to fight him best.

"And I do really hate little girls who tie up my… employees" he said and smiled cruelly at the man behind of the girls.

With a movement of his wand, he let the bonds disappear. The man got up rubbing his wrists and stepped towards his boss.

"I can't believe you would have the guts to return…" Hermione said to him.

"Me neither, but you're leaving me no choice" he snatched his attention back to Ginny and Hermione.

"I don't understand… We were doing nothing" Ginny snapped back at him. Well as far as she knew they were not after him. George, Ron and Harry were acting strange but they would never be after… Oh my god, they would!

"No…" Ginny said and looked at Hermione "Was this all about… revenge?"

Hermione looked at her and shook her head. That was not the time to discuss this issue.

Is that why they were sneaking around all day or going after Ginny, Luna and Neville? They weren't thinking they couldn't defend themselves. They were hunting him. Hunting Augustus Rookwood- the murderer of Fred. And he was closer than they had imagined.

"You… YOU" Ginny started but Augustus just laughed.

"Come on, little girl" he said "You really are surprised, aren't you?"

"I thought you were… dead or in Azkaban"

"Well… You were wrong" he said angrily "And now since we are talking about that… I'm telling you once and only once, that I won't be that stupid and let Harry Potter put me into Azkaban"

Hermione was about to say something, but thought about it and just stared at the former Death Eater.

"You tell him and his little friends that this game's over" he said.

"Who do you think you are?" Ginny screamed before anyone could stop her "You killed my brother and you think this is some kind of game?"

"Ginny, please…" Hermione tried to calm her down. It seemed like Ginny couldn't see how dangerous the situation was right now, all she did was concentrating all her anger on Rookwood.

Rookwood looked at the girls with a mixture of anger and amusement. How could he dare stand there in front of them and smile down at them.

"You will pay for what you did" Ginny threatened him. She wasn't too sure about what she was going to do when she lifted her wand.

Without blinking Rookwood fought off her spells. They walked in circle for a while, Rookwood laughing and Ginny getting angrier and angrier. It ended with Rookwood shocking Ginny. Hermione screamed as she watched the curse hitting Ginny.

She felt through the air and landed a few feet away on the ground. Her back ached terrible and so did her chest. What spell did he use on her? She didn't move for a moment or two. Hermione was by her side, her eyes in tears. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. That her friend was well… More or less, that is.

Ginny got up and held her head. She wasn't bleeding and she was conscious, that was all she could tell so far. His smile had disappeared the moment Ginny had moved again.

"This is not possible" Rookwood screamed in anger "She should've been dead. What happened here?"

Ginny looked at him with disgust. He was walking up and down and suddenly looked at his companion.

"How is THAT possible?" he screamed now a bit terrified as Ginny could tell. Before Ginny or Hermione could do anything else, Rookwood grabbed Hermione by her hair.

"YOU! You are supposed to be a genius… Why. Isn't. She. Dead.?"

Hermione, though visibly in pain, smirked.

"You forgot, Augustus, that we are protected, no matter where we go" mockery was clearly heard when she said his name.

Rookwood, obviously not satisfied by her answer grabbed it more violently. Hermione groaned.

"You should be happy about that… What do you think would happen if- if you'd kill another of the Weasleys" she managed to say. Rookwood let go of her immediately and Ginny managed to crawl to her friend. He stumbled a few steps backwards and looked at his companion again.

"We will go… But remember Miss Granger, tell Mr Potter and the Weasley's that they should stop looking for me, or else… Or else I will truly kill her"

And with a PLOP both men disapparated. The girls were quiet for a moment as to make sure that they were alone.

"What? Did he hit me with 'Avada Kedavra'?" Ginny said and felt her heart race at the image of it.

"He did" Hermione said dead serious. Oh my god, Ginny was so close to dying and didn't even recognize it. She would've been gone and could've never had the chance to make it up with Luna and Neville. She would've been gone and would've never had the chance to see her family again. She wouldn't have been ready to leave.

"But how could I survive… I mean… what?" Ginny stuttered.

"Harry told you what happened in the forest, didn't he?" Hermione asked as she sat next to Ginny.

"Yeah, he went in there to let Voldemort kill him…" Ginny responded.

"No… Well yes, but did he tell you what exactly happened?"

Ginny didn't understand, what was her friend on about? Harry had told her, that Voldemort had used the killing spell on him and that he found himself next to Dumbledore. He had the choice and chose to stay alive and fight.

"Ginny… There was so much more to that… He sacrificed himself for us" she smiled at the thought of it "Do you understand what that means?"

Ginny shook her head. How would she know?

"That means that nobody can hurt you" she giggled and wiped away a tear "Harry did so much more than "just" defeating Voldemort… And nobody really knows"

Ginny was speechless. He had sacrificed himself for all of them just like his mother once did for him. Voldemort could not harm Harry and now nobody could harm her. She put a hand on her chest at the spot where the curse hit her, just under her heart and felt her heartbeat. She owed Harry so much more than just the rescue in the Chamber…

"He… he did" Ginny finally said and got up. "How can I ever-"

"No" Hermione interrupted her friend "You can never tell him"

Ginny was confused. Why not, he was a hero after all…

"He would not want anybody to know… Especially not you"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked angrily.

"It means that you can hardly look at him now and him and I both know what would happen now" Hermione sighed "It should've never come to this…"

"I am looking at Harry" Ginny said stubborn. She had even kissed him… twice! How dare somebody tell her that she was afraid of Harry Potter- haa, not after all those years she had been fighting next to him and the order!

Hermione just gave her friend a look, saying 'Come on, who are you kidding' but Ginny didn't let her provoke her. She slowly got up and that's when she realized her ribs were hurting immensely.

"Dammit" she said between her teeth. Hermione was next to her and put up her shirt.

"This looks horrible, we have to get you to the infirmary" she said and supported her side. "Do you think we can make it back to your dormitory?"

Ginny nodded but kept her teeth together. She knew she would scream otherwise, it hurt more than she could've imagined.

Back at her dorm, Ron and Chris were sitting together, not really talking at all- the one didn't know what to say to his girlfriend's sister and the other didn't want to say anything to his sister's twat. Both were hoping for the girls to return as fast as possible, bringing along Neville and Luna to loosen up the atmosphere.

Ron, slightly uncomfortable and trying to keep it together looked outside the window. It's been quite a while since the girls had been gone and this campus couldn't be that big could it?

After, what it seemed an eternity of time, in which neither of the boys talked at all, Hermione burst into the room, helping a visibly injured Ginny into the room.

Ginny's face was grey and her forehead was covered in sweat. Hermione put her on the bed and helped her lie on the pillows.

"What happened?" Ron was the first to speak. He was terrified and his already pale face turned white.

"Not now" Hermione hissed and got around the room to look for her purse.

"Oh my god, Ginny" Ron said and got back down next to his sister "Are you alright?"

"No, as you can tell" Ginny said more harsh than she intended to. "I'm okay, Ron"

She grabbed his hand and breathed through her teeth. She then looked at Chris.

"Could you… Bring Neville and Luna here?" she asked him. They were the people she needed to see the most right now. She had to make things right, after all she almost didn't get the chance to do so. Chris only nodded his head and made his way through the door.

"Now tell me what happened" he demanded to know from Hermione who was throwing out staples of books and other things out of her little purse.

"Death Eater… Rookwood…" she said while looking through her stuff.

"Oh my god, what did he do to you?" Ron asked in shock. He was angry at himself for not being there and concern was written all over his face.

Hermione found what she was looking for, stepped to the bed again and pushed Ron aside as gently as she could right now. She started to put some serum on Ginny's ribs while telling him the whole story. She had to ask him multiple times to stay calm. Ginny could tell by his face that he was just about to run out into the woods and find Rookwood himself.

"I'm alright…" she tried to assure him.

"THAT son of a-" Ron started to yell but just in that moment, Chris came through the room bringing along Luna and Neville. Luna looked concerned and Neville's face was almost as white as the wall.

"Good god, what happened to you?" he asked and sat on the edge of her bed.

Ginny put a hand up to reach for his hand. He took it and Luna sat down on the ground so her face was the same level. She smiled.

Hermione put her things back in the purse and made Chris and Ron leave with her. She closed the door behind her and the silver trio sat there in silence for a few moments. She then started to tell them what had happened.

Neville and Luna listened in silence, nodded, widened their eyes and almost shrieked (yes even Neville almost shrieked at the image of Ginny almost dying) and when she finished her story, the three of them were silent again.

"I'm sorry…" Ginny started but Neville shushed her.

"No, I am… Or rather, we both are so sorry…"

"Yes, we should've told you what was happening… None of this would've-" Luna said

"It would… I think I would've gone after him anyway…"

"But Rookwood… He was here…" Neville said.

"It doesn't matter… None of that does anymore…" Ginny said and looked from Neville to Luna "I figured that I could've been dead and that the only thing that mattered when I've realized what happened is that you both are my best friends… And I couldn't stand losing you"

Luna smiled brightly and Neville squeezed Ginny's hand. There were no further words needed, all three of them knew that they felt the same way and were happy more than anything else in the world, that they had each other. The silver trio was back on and the things that were going to start, Ginny thought, would only be able to get done if the three of them stuck together.


	12. Chapter 12

so chapter 12 and a (late) Christmas special you can check out on my channel :) sorry for the delay, been a couple of busy weeks. xoxo

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><p>The weeks passed by and soon Ginny found herself in the middle of planning and plotting with Luna and Neville, tons of study work she hadn't done until then and avoiding Chris' questions about what happened. Soon after the incident, Luna decided to visit her brother George, trying to see if he was doing okay.<p>

But not long after her first visit in his flat- formerly Fred and George's flat- Ginny could see that her brother wasn't doing as good as he tried to convince everybody around him. He tried to fool her once or twice but after her fourth or fifth visit, Ginny finally was able to see through his masquerade. Especially at times when Fred's former girlfriend Angelina Johnson came by from time to time. She really wasn't over Fred and being with George helped her. It didn't do him any good to sit with her and talk about Fred, though, that's why Ginny decided to get him out of there.

They wandered around the Diagon Alley but nothing could get George's mind away from his dead best friend. She wondered how he kept on playing the joker and easy minded brother they all knew for so long, but couldn't find an answer… She'd rather not know.

"Honestly, George" Ginny said one afternoon, when she found her brother again all passed out and drunk at the Foaming Vial "You can't keep doing this. You have a business to run"

"Wookers…" he mumbled.

"What?" Ginny giggled as she supported his side while walking him out of the bar. She was almost used to that situation and wondered who brought George home when she thought he was doing okay.

"I said 'who cares'?" he said now loudly. Ginny looked at him in disbelief as he shook her off and took a few steps outside.

It was really getting cold outside and by the cold wind that was dashing through the streets, one could easily tell that it was going to snow soon.

"Nothing matters anymore…" he mumbled "None of this"

"You're drunk" Ginny tried to laugh, but she knew that somewhere between the alcohol, George was really speaking from his heart.

"Yes, I am drunk" he said and suddenly giggled hysterically "Whatchu gon' do about it, huh?"

Suddenly Ginny saw herself faced with an aggressive George and she wasn't sure what to do with him.

"George, please calm down" she tried but it only seemed to make him more angry.

"I will NOT calm down, don't tell me what to do" he yelled. A few passengers stopped and started to stare at the scene that was going down in front of them.

"George, please"

"Just tell me one thing" George said without lowering his voice "How do you do this?"

"How do I do what?" Ginny asked and stepped closer, maybe she could make him walk with her towards his flat.

"You are okay" he said and then turned to the crowd "You are all okay, even though most of you lost someone"

Ginny tried to grab his arm but he wouldn't let her.

"George let's go home, please" she said and stubbornly walked towards him. George looked around the crowd angrily and shook Ginny off. One time. Two times. Three times. Then suddenly it happened all at once. Ginny grabbed her brother's arm, now with more force and managed to take a hold of him. But he turned around quickly and hit her cheek.

Ginny fell to the ground and held her cheek in shock. She knew he didn't do it on purpose and that she was humiliated in front of the crowd was of no concern to her. But that he had hit her hurt more than she could've imagined.

"Oh… I- I…" George tried and went towards her but she kept on looking at him in shock. He had hit her in the face.

"Did you see that" somebody said

"He hit her…" a voice in the crowd muttered

"Poor girl" someone else put their 5 cents in

"What's going on here?" said someone familiar and Ginny didn't even have to turn around to know it was Harry. She got back up on her feet and dusted herself up.

"Nothing really" she said but George looked at the ground ashamed and devastated. Ginny looked around the crowd but nobody seemed to move.

"The show's over" she shouted and they started to wander off, shaking their heads.

Harry grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her towards him. He grabbed her chin and turned her hurt cheek towards him.

"This will look bad pretty soon" he said as he examined her cheek.

"It's okay" she looked at George who was still not moving but heavily breathing "George, look I'm okay"

But George still didn't look up. Tears were falling to the ground and his fists were clinched. Then he suddenly ran off.

"George" Ginny shouted after him. She was about to run after him but Harry didn't let go.

"You can't help him, Ginny" he tried to convince her. "Let's go to his apartment and wait for him to return"

"But…" Ginny started, but Harry didn't leave her. He was probably right anyway. She knew George and he wouldn't let anybody talk to him just now. He had to cool down.

So she followed Harry into George's apartment and sat on the couch. Harry put something on her chin which made it burn but Ginny didn't make a sound.

"I figured that when he's in this mode, there's no other way but to let him go. He'll turn up soon enough" Harry reassured.

"So you would bring him home, whenever he was like this?" Ginny asked in disbelief. And not one word did slip through his mouth… Never a word of complain or anything else.

Harry didn't answer that. He went into the kitchen and brought a glass of water for himself and her. He sat down next to her on the couch and put his glass on the coffee table.

"How are your ribs?" he asked instead and looked at her concerned. Ginny sighed. Of course they had told him.

"Who told you?" she asked

"Who hasn't?!" he responded. Ginny laughed lightly and pinched Harry's arm.

"Ouch!" he acted as if it really did hurt a lot "You know I was pretty concerned… It shouldn't have come to this"

"Hold on right there" Ginny said strictly "This is not your fault!"

Harry smiled. Ginny would know that he would feel this way, just like she always knew when he was punishing himself for something he couldn't possibly have controlled.

"You know what" Ginny started, but she remembered what Hermione had told her "Well… Never mind"

But it was too late, Harry was curious now and she would have to tell him now.

"Hermione… Told me something when, you know, the curse hit me and I didn't die" she looked at him. He was listening quietly, trying to understand everything she said just as always when she was talking to him. He always listened.

"What did she tell you?"

"About your sacrifice… In the forest…" she said, carefully watching Harry's face. "Please don't be mad at her… She had to tell me and she said I could never tell you I knew, but how could I pretend I don't know what I know when I knew that-"

Harry put a hand up "Wha-what?" he asked. Ginny had spoken without taking a break- or even a breath.

"First of all, I am not mad at Hermione… I figured she had told you, because how else could you explain that?" he said and looked at her honestly relaxed "And secondly, I'm glad we don't have to pretend to know something or not knowing something in front of each other"

Ginny blushed. Their friendship was making progress, she couldn't remember a time when she was sitting next to Harry casually and being friendly with him, without secrets on either side or anything else.

"He's late" she said as she looked at the clock on Harry's wrist. She couldn't believe he had actually kept this old clock Mrs Weasley had given him on his 17th birthday.

"Don't worry, he'll come" Harry said but he himself didn't look too sure.

"Had he been that bad before?" Ginny asked. Harry shook his head. This was a low point. "We have to do something… I'll call my parents over…"

"Don't" Harry grabbed her wrist. "He wouldn't want to bother them. How many times do you think have I asked him to tell your parents?"

Ginny could imagine. He would never tell their parents that George was out of control. But still, she had to do something.

"What can we do, Harry?" she asked after a while. "Tell me, what?"

Harry must've seen that she was desperately searching for a solution. And that she was brainstorming with him made him happier than it probably should. Before he could say anything, George opened the door and Ginny ran towards him.

"Where have you been?" she yelled at him. George held his head and looked at his little sister. Her hands on her hips and the bright red face on which anger is written all over, she resembled her mother more than she would admit.

"I was wanderin' around… MUM!" he said in a pathetic attempt to make a joke. But Ginny wasn't up to joke with him.

"Do you think this is funny?" she asked furiously. How could he think he'll return and it would all be okay?

"No… Look I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" he pointed at her cheek. He was still punishing himself for that.

"George, you need help" she yelled, though she was standing right in front of him.

"Please… Stop yelling" he murmured, held his head and sat down on the couch next to Harry who watched the scene silently. He didn't want to interfere in family issues.

"Having a headache? Good" she kept on yelling "I hope it hurts really badly!"

George looked at her with guilt. He was really a wreck and Ginny's anger was gone at once.

"Look, neither Harry nor I can look after you every day" Harry nodded at that. "We are just trying to help you, but I think… We think it's time you get professional help…"

George's eyes became big "I have anything under control… I can stop any time"

Ginny smiled sadly. She knew those words too well, 'having things under control' when you really don't know what you're actually doing…

"I don't think you are…" she said but he opened his mouth to say something. "George, I've been there! Thinking you have everything under control, when you really need someone to talk to…"

Harry looked up at these words. He knew what she meant and maybe the both of them were the only ones to help George. So he decided to join in.

"Ginny's right… I can imagine what you're going through…" Harry said.

It seemed to have an impact on George for he did not say anything back. He just sat there with his head low, looking pitiful and nothing like the George they used to know.

"You're drinking every day, you're not going to work and I can only imagine what you do when you're all alone…" Ginny said "I'm not trying to hurt you… We just want to help…"

George looked at his sister. Maybe she was right and maybe he had to admit that he wouldn't be fine by himself.

"What should I do…? I just miss him and everything is pointless without him…" George said to no one in particular.

"He would never want you to be like this" Ginny tried to comfort him. "Do you think this would help him?"

George shook his head. Fred wouldn't want him to drink every day and forget what they worked on so hard. Fred wouldn't be so weak.

"I wish I had died at his place" he said and buried his face in his hands. Ginny couldn't stand to see her brother this broken and didn't know what else to say, she wasn't even sure if she could say anything. George's words were in the room and hung there for several moments until Harry clapped his hands together once.

"That's enough!" he said angrily "Your self-pity party is getting you nowhere!"

Both Weasleys looked at Harry in disbelief. Did he really just say that?

"Harry…" Ginny began but he gave her a look which wanted to say 'don't interfere here, I know what I'm doing' so she shut her mouth.

"George, you need help… Professional help and the sooner you admit that, the sooner you can go back to business! Fred would've wanted the shop to keep on blooming… Especially now"

His words had some impact on George he really seemed to understand that he was in need for help. Ginny was kind of glad that she didn't actually know for how long George had been suffering, though she wished she had recognized it sooner. But seeing that he was willing to get some help was making her very happy. And knowing that Harry was the one, who got him to accept it was helping even more. But it also made Ginny feel very guilty. Fred was gone and it hurt every day, but she never imagined how George could feel about all of that.

"We should probably go to St. Mungo's…" Harry said carefully "You know, you should get some rest for… A while. We'll see from there, alright?"

George simply nodded and let Ginny help him get up. Harry supported him and the three apparated in front of the hospital.

"Don't worry, George, all the mental people won't bite" Ginny joked and it even made George smile a little.

She sat next to her brother who seemed to look at the same spot for almost an hour and waited for Harry to take care of everything. And he did, he signed papers and sent a Patronus to the Burrow. When a nurse came to pick up George, he sat next to Ginny and sighed.

"You really think this is the right decision?" she asked him, now not so sure if this place would help George.

Harry was silent for a few minutes. She watched nurses and patients walking by, the busy floor was filled with people who needed to go there or to pick up that.

"Yes" he finally said "None of us could've helped him… This went on for far too long…"

He grabbed Ginny's hand and squeezed it. He wanted her to know that he was there for her. No matter what happened, she'd always have him. Ginny and Harry's hands were linked and it felt like they were made for each other. Not only Harry didn't want to let go, but Ginny felt a little sad when Mr and Mrs Weasley almost ran towards the two and Harry jumped up immediately.

"Where is he?" Mrs Weasley almost cried "Where's my son?"

Mr Weasley tried to calm his wife down and asked of Harry to explain why he had sent for them. He tried to stay at the facts, not telling them that George had hit Ginny or that he would disappear for hours without anybody knowing where he was.

Mrs Weasley sat down next to his daughter and held her face in her hands.

"I should've known… My poor boy" she managed to say.

"Molly, please" Arthur patted her back. Ginny stood up and let her father take her seat.

"He'll be fine" Ginny assured them, when the doctor came out of the room where they had brought him to and asked for George's family.

When he looked at Harry suspiciously, Ginny stepped in.

"He's… my fiancé" she said quickly and the doctor shrugged his shoulders. Ginny's ears were heating that moment she said the words and only hoped that her parents wouldn't mind. Little did she know the impact of those words on Harry who could hardly focus, always sin danger on drifting into a dream sequence of him and Ginny together…

"…It's quite serious and I think you brought him just in time" the doctor brought both Harry and Ginny back to reality.

"He has a drinking problem?" Mrs Weasley asked in shock. She buried her face in her husband's chest and cried silently. She had failed as a mother and she was wondering if she could've stopped him.

"He was such a good actor" Ginny said to the doctor and hoped her mother would listen to her "If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd never known"

These words seemed to help and Mrs Weasley caught herself again.

"Can I… Can I see him?" she asked and before the doctor could deny it, she insisted "I have to see that my son is okay"

So the doctor let her and Mr Weasley get into the room. Ginny didn't want to interrupt, nor wasn't she too sure that he could deal with so many people right now and therefore she stayed were she was.

"You okay?" Harry asked when he saw she didn't move.

"Yeah… I think… I just think he had enough for today" she smiled at Harry "Thank you… You are our hero…"

Harry warped his face and sighed. Would she ever stop?

"I'm… still the same ole Harry" he insisted.

Ginny didn't argue. She turned around to see if someone was nearby and could possibly listen to them and then leaned closer to him.

"You know, this Rookwood hunt isn't over, is it?" she asked seriously. Harry stiffened.

"What are you up to?"

"I… We decided to join" she said and looked him deadly in the eye. "And don't even start with 'It's too dangerous', it's already decided… After today more than anything… So either you let us join or we go on our own"

And before he could add anything else, Ginny asked him to tell their parents she had to go and disapparated.


	13. Chapter 13

Wow it's been quite a while and I think we are almost there if you know what I mean... Thanks for the reviews and the pm's and I hope to update soon

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><p>"You told Harry?" Neville asked after Ginny told them what had happened.<p>

"I hope George will be okay" Luna chanted at the same time.

"Yes, I did… He would have known sooner or later! And I hope so too, Luna" Ginny answered while packing her backpack.

Luna was wearing a thick jacket and sat on her bed while Neville's grey face almost resembled his backpack which he didn't let go of since he entered Ginny's room.

"He will never be in for that…" he murmured. He sensed that this must get them… or rather him in a lot of trouble, for he had promised Harry to keep them out of trouble.

"I didn't leave him any choice… We would've gone anyway and six people are better than three" she said without looking up. Secretly she hoped to finally figure out what she was really feeling and that she had to make a decision once and for all.

"We once did help him, don't you remember?" Luna helped her friend "In the Ministry of Magic…"

Neville relaxed a little. If Ginny was determined to go anyway, Harry would have had to let her. And he would follow her no matter what.

"Soo Luna, how are you and… Rolf it was?" Ginny changed the subject.

"Good, he sent me a rose last week… He said this could protect me against Nargles…" she sighed.

Ginny smiled. Luna had really found someone almost as mysterious as herself… That is, if he himself wasn't more into that kind of things than even Luna.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. Before Ginny had a chance to hide her stuff, Chris entered the room. He looked angry. Luna and Neville took their backpacks and left immediately.

"What is that all about?" he asked and showed around the room.

"There's something I… we have to do" she simply said.

"And what is there so important to do in the middle of the semester?" he demanded to know.

Why was he being so difficult? Ginny sat down on her bed and looked into his eyes.

"I can't tell you…" she simply said and hoped he would understand.

"Has it something to do with this mysterious injury?"

Ginny still hadn't told him about what really had happened. She tried to escape this conversation as long as possible.

"Yes" she said honestly. But she wouldn't tell him no matter what.

"Then I'll come along" Chris tried to make peace.

"You can't" Ginny desperately said. She was looking through all of her excuses of why not but she simply couldn't find one good enough for this situation.

"Why not?"

"Because this has nothing to do with you" she stated stubbornly.

"If it has something to do with you, it has something to do with me"

"It's a family issue and as far as I remember you are not a part of mine" she said and regretted it immediately. "Look… I'm not trying to be rude or anything but this is something I'll have to do on my own"

"But you're taking those weirdos along?" he screamed.

Ginny couldn't believe what she just heard.

"How did you just call my best friends?" she ask trying to stay as calm as possible "WHAT did you just say?"

"Crap… Ginny, I'm sorry" he said immediately. She knew that it was probably just the heat of the moment but couldn't shrug it off just like that. "I just think they are no good for you…"

"Listen up, Chris!" she said harshly "There are a few things you can say and you simply can't… These are some of the things I absolutely don't like to hear"

She grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. She was just too angry to think clear and not in the mood to sort things out.

"I'm sorry… Really… I didn't mean to, I just…" Chris tried.

"But you did… And I… can't-"

"Are we fighting about those two right now?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't know what you think we're fighting about but it's not just them…" Ginny yelled "I am just tired of this… Why do you always demand so much of me?"

"I demand…" he said "What do I demand, huh? Honesty? Commitment?"

"I am tired of apologising for who I am" she finally yelled. "You make me feel like I shouldn't be the way I am… I can't do this anymore…"

"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked sadly. "Please let's talk about it…"

"I don't have time right now… Let's talk about this" she pointed to herself and to him "when I'm back… Right now I just can't…"

She hoped that he would understand what she meant by "this" but right now, she had to focus on a Death Eater who was somewhere out there. She looked at Chris, one more time, his blue eyes in water as it seemed and smiled sadly. And with that she went out of the door and headed towards Neville and Luna who were waiting down the corridor for her.

"Everything alright?" Luna asked as Ginny put an arm around her and Neville.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt at all… No Ginny was even feeling kind of great right now. She hasn't in months and maybe, it was for the better right now.

"Yes" she smiled at her friends. If they were weirdos, so was she and she was more than happy to be!

"Someone's happy!" Ron said when the three of them arrived at the Burrow a few minutes later.

"We are ready!" was all he got for an answer from his sister. "How's George?"

"Okay… I think it'll help him… Your parents are still there" Harry answered as they stepped closer.

"I think we shouldn't waste any more time!" she said determined.

Luna looked around.

"Where's Hermione, won't she join us on our vacation?" she asked.

Ron made big eyes but didn't comment on that. Instead he said "She'll be here any minute… I hope"

"Do you have a clue on where to start?" Neville wanted to know "I thought that maybe… Maybe we should ask around a little…"

"Yeah, brilliant idea" Hermione said when she apparated right behind Neville. He turned around quickly as to locate where the voice came from, tripped and fell.

Ron couldn't help but laugh "Bloody hell, I almost forgot how clumsy you are!"

The gang stood around him and watched him get back on his feet. Ginny put an arm around him when he stepped next to her, his face all red.

"Have you been successful?" Ron asked as he pulled Hermione to his side. The silver trio looked at him quizzically.

"I just made sure we started off our search in the right direction", Hermione explained as she acknowledged that not everyone knew what was going on. "I asked around at the Ministry, and apparently Rookwood had been seen around Askaban... We are not sure what he's planning, but the sooner we find him, the better."

"Wow… It's hardly believable that you haven't known much about what they were up to" Ginny said teasingly. Hermione blushed and looked anywhere but at her friend.

"I already said I was sorry…" she mumbled, but Ginny didn't try to make her feel bad about being a good friend.

"Come on, I was just kidding" she said fast and looked at Ron apologetic.

"I think, we should get going" Harry interrupted the rather awkward situation and Ginny couldn't be more thankful. He gave her a small smile as he took her hand and before Ginny could return it, they found them swirling through the air.

They landed shaky on a field and before Ginny knew what was up, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were busy with building the tent and performing spells. Neville was on his feet again and helped Ron and Hermione, while Ginny tried to keep Luna from wandering off too far.

They sat together, not half an hour later, and discussed how they would go on further.

"To prevent any problems that might come up here" Hermione said and gave Ron a serious look "I'd like to let you know that we told you everything we know about where he could possibly be, but that doesn't mean we will find him right away"

"Yes, and if you think you can't do this, please feel free to leave NOW for there is no turning back when we are hunting him down" Ron added and looked around at each of the little group. He only met determined looks on their faces.

"What have you planned until now?" Ginny asked Harry.

"We were following every track we found… That's why we were at the lake that day… If you remember" he said and looked at his hands.

Of course she did, and it made perfectly sense now that she recalled the events of their journey, the letters Neville wrote and everything else as well. She simply nodded.

"The last we knew is that Hermione and you saw him..., which means he couldn't be too far away. Next, he's been around Askaban quite a lot recently, or at least that's what the guards were whispering" he concluded.

"I asked our friends from the D.A. if they might've seen someone weird around where they are lately" Neville said as he showed his D.A. coin to the others.

Ginny's mouth fell open. She couldn't believe that he had kept the coin and actually communicated through it as well. She was embarrassed that she didn't do the same, since a lot of the D.A. members were still her friends after all.

"Hannah Abbott, she's the barkeeper at the Leaky Caldron now, does send me messages from time to time" he continued blushing. "She'll report me when she sees someone matching the features I sent her"

Ginny smiled sheepishly. She was glad she had time enough to notice those little blushes of him whenever he talked about a particular girl again. Chris surely did occupy a lot of Ginny's time. Especially, after they fought about Harry. Why didn't she notice earlier? Maybe she really was focused on her own life the last couple of months. Maybe, she thought, she owed Luna and Neville an apology.

"Great, Neville. So we have a couple of tracks we can follow, but for those we won't be able to stay together all the time…" Hermione concluded.

Ron and Harry tensed at the same time.

"No way, I'll let any of you wander around on their own" Harry said quickly. He opened his mouth again, but took a quick look at Ginny and stopped. What did he want to say?

"Especially when this bloody son of a b-" Ron almost yelled, but Hermione interrupted him

"Language, Ron" she simply said "Besides, we can't keep camping for months again… This time we won't have that much time"

Ginny and Luna nodded. No way they'd be sitting around a bonfire and wait for the men to do all the work themselves.

"Besides, I think we could help ask some questions and get some information…" Ginny said coquettish for everyone to understand what she meant. The look on Harry's and especially Ron's faces were priceless.

"You can't-" Ron started, his head getting all red in anger.

"No way, you'd be somewhere and… someone" Harry managed to say, his anger almost matching Ron's.

"Come on, we are big girls, we can handle that" Hermione laughed.

They argued back and forth but the girls were determined.

"Fine, let's vote!" Ron said confident "Who's for this?"

Three arms shot up immediately and a fourth followed hesitantly. All eyes shot to the owner of this arm. Neville looked around not being too sure of what they expected from him.

"What?" he said "It's a good idea… And besides…, this is nothing but a macho thing. Come on the girls know what they're doing"

So it was settled, and though neither Ron nor Harry were the slightest bit happy about it, they let them do as they pleased. And a couple of nights later, Ginny found herself at the Leaky Caldron sitting at the bar and looking stunning in her red dress. The fact that Harry was not three tables away, disguised and watching every men walking by Ginny with carefully but angry eyes made it not easier to focus on their plan.

It wasn't too long until a shady man sat next to her, obviously not knowing who she was.

"Such a beautiful girl, all alone in a place like this" he said and put two fingers up as to tell Hannah to bring two drinks over. He snapped his attention back to Ginny and smiled. Ginny was disgusted by him but knowing what she had to do, and knowing that Harry would step in when things got too intense. She remembered his words from earlier, telling her that everything would be just fine.

"Well, I'm obviously celebrating… alone" she said but couldn't even convince herself.

"What are we celebrating then?" he asked as Hannah handed them the drinks. Ginny's heart beat fast, she didn't know what to do, so she turned just a little to see if Harry was still there. He nodded reassuring in her direction but his eyes shot back at Ginny's buddy.

"My freedom, we could say so" she smiled into the glass. "I just divorced my good for nothing husband"

The man seemed to believe her, because he smiled and toasted in her direction.

"Good for me, then" and with one sip, the whole drink was down.

"Take another" she smiled "It's on me tonight"

This would be easier than expected. Knowing that Hannah and Harry were there to support her, Ginny made him talk about this and that.

"I heard there are still some… _bad boys_ out there" she said flirtatious "Have you ever met one?"

The slightly drunk guest laughed a little too loud and came closer as if he wanted to whisper. Ginny's body shivered at the smell of sweat and alcohol but she played along.

"I do know some… Actually" he said louder than he had probably intended to. "Some, who were front row at the insane war against Potter and his pack…"

He almost spitted the word Potter as if it was something disgusting. Ginny froze. He was one of them…

"Well" she said and laughed stiff "Then you can introduce me to some, can't you?"

"What?" he spat "Am I not worth your time?"

He put his hand on Ginny's knee and she heard movement from behind. She removed his hand quickly and laughed nervously. She moved closer to him and put her hand on his arm.

"There are bigger fish in this sea… Do you know where I can find someone who actually DID something terribly, terribly bad?" she said, hoping that the Verita Serum Hannah had put in his drink worked.

"I don't think that's a good place for a young lady… _They meet at an unofficial bar called DE's at Knockturn Alley_" he rambled not knowing that he just spilled quality information.

"Knockturn Alley, you say? And does anyone who meets up there know where to find Augustus Rookwood?"

"Really, lovely this is nothing you should put your nose in… _He's residing in a village near the border to Scotland… Berwick or something_"

Ginny knew this was all she should've find out yet, but she couldn't help it.

"What are you planning" she whispered sharply.

"_We will rise again… We will fight back…_" he whispered back and laughed slightly.

"What are you planning?" Ginny repeated but the man just laughed into his glass.

"I think that's enough" said Hannah slightly and gave her a look as if she wanted to say that they were not alone.

Ginny bend forward and her lips almost touched his cheek. She was speaking so quiet and held her wand under her coat pointing just a little in his direction.

"Thank you, you helped me more than you know. _Obliviate_" Ginny said and hopped down her seat. She nodded in Hannah's direction and turned around to smile at Harry. He seemed to relax at seeing her smile and he jumped up as fast as possible and met with Ginny to apparated back to the tent.

"This went well" Harry said as he grabbed her hand. They walked down the road quickly, to find a quiet place to disapparate into the night.

"Let's go, quickly, we can't talk too loud around here" Ginny said as they hurried around the corner. "What he told me is more important than we-"

She quit talking as a shady elder woman came around the corner. Ginny turned to Harry who was, thank God, still in disguise.

"Listen," she whispered as the woman passed them, "Things are worse than expected; we should head back immediately… Maybe we had already lost too much time"

Harry looked at her, his eyes wide. He didn't understand what she meant but Ginny couldn't tell him just here. What the hell did this man mean by "we will rise again"? Voldemort was dead, and this should've been it!


End file.
